Staff Reporter
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Members of Congress will return to Washington on Nov. 9 after the midterm elections, setting the stage for major decisions on transportation funding.
Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution to extend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Highway Trust Fund contract authority and core surface transportation programs to Dec. 11. But advance appropriations originally in the IIJA were not included in short-term funding, which meant that the funding authority lapsed Oct. 1.
That funding lapse affects road, safety and bridge projects across the country as states and localities try to plan ahead — an issue the National League of Cities and American Society of Civil Engineers have pushed Congress to address.
In September, Henry Hanscom, chief advocacy and public affairs officer for American Trucking Associations, told Transport Topics, “America’s economy depends on a safe and reliable transportation network, and that requires consistent, long-term investment. The last thing we need is uncertainty that delays critical projects or puts infrastructure funding at risk. The cost of inaction is already beginning to mount. Congress has made real progress on a bipartisan highway bill, and we encourage lawmakers to keep that momentum going and get it across the finish line.”
The failure to renew the $36.8 billion impacts states differently, according to an Oct. 27 report from the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Cantwell hasn’t taken a public position on the America BUILD 250 Act, the House proposal for a bipartisan surface transportation reauthorization bill, and the Senate hasn’t taken up the legislation yet. Cantwell also released a report in May examining how freight, rail and multimodal programs that don’t receive funds from the Highway Trust Fund would be affected.
Cantwell. (Jim Watson/Pool via Associated Press)
States with major transportation corridors that experience a high volume of freight traffic, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, will likely be impacted by this uncertainty because many of these programs focus on traffic safety, infrastructure funding and truck parking.
For example, Ohio, a well-traversed state for commercial trucks, faces a $218.3 million cut to formula funding, including $20.4 million from the Appalachian Development Highway System program. Through the program, the Federal Highway Administration works closely with the Appalachian Regional Commission to fund the construction of corridor highways in the region, which can be economically isolated because of its terrain.
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According to the Department of Transportation, the ADHS has improved travel time for commuters and truckers. For Ohio, the report lists a $104.3 million cut to the Bridge Formula Program, which rehabilitates, preserves and constructs highway bridges in the state. Under these cuts, Pennsylvania, a vital state for commercial trucking corridors, loses $18.6 million for the ADHS program and $353.4 million for the Bridge Formula Program.
Pennsylvania’s total formula funding at risk comes to $539.1 million, the report shows. The Bridge Formula Program cuts represent a 100% reduction in funding for the program.
Bob Toews, CEO of TruckDown, discusses winter readiness in the connected fleet era. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
Bob Toews, CEO of TruckDown, discusses winter readiness in the connected fleet era. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
Texas’ formula funding cuts include $3 million from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Highway Safety Program, which funds safe driving campaigns, among other safety measures, and $8 million from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, which provides financial assistance to states for traffic enforcement and carrier investigations. A federal initiative to fund the building of electric vehicle fast-charging networks faces a 100% cut of $86.9 million. Texas’ total formula funding cuts amount to $494 million.
The Cantwell reports show that nationally, discretionary programs such as Safe Streets and Roads for All and the National Infrastructure Project Assistance Program, or Mega Program, which funds safe truck parking and large transportation projects, would receive no funding without advance appropriations. Funding for the Nationally Significant Freight and Highways Program, known as INFRA, which provides grants to reduce highway congestion and bottlenecks and improve the safety and efficiency of freight movement, was reduced by 37% in the report. The loss of formula funding nationwide totals $10.8 billion.
It’s unclear how much Congress will accomplish in the five legislative weeks it has to reach an agreement on major funding legislation. Funding negotiations will take place in the shadow of a potential Democratic takeover of the House and possibly the Senate in the next Congress. Congress could pass another short-term extension, leaving major transportation funding questions unresolved.
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