Local Economies Need Highway Trust Fund Solvency, Say Local Gov't Advocate
Federal infrastructure funding provides critical benefits to local communities and economies, and lawmakers on Capitol Hill need to act quickly to provide long-term solvency to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), said National Association of Counties President Riki Hokama in an…
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Oct. 22 letter (here) to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio. President Barack Obama signed into law in August a bill that authorized federal spending for highway projects through May 31, 2015 (see 14081001). The Highway and Transportation Funding Act, HR-5021 (here), also gave the HTF nearly $11 billion to fill its coffers. Hokama did not specify how lawmakers should reform the fund’s revenue strategy, but emphasized that uncertainty surrounding the fund is preventing some highway projects from taking place. Some lawmakers have lashed out at raising corporate taxes to make the fund solvent (see 14050625). Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., pushed House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., in early October to find a way to fix Highway Trust Fund insolvency over the long-term, although she also did not offer a specific remedy. The cost of construction may also threaten highway projects by outpacing inflation, so a long-term trust fund solution is even more critical, said the Oct. 22 letter.