In our last blog, we wrote about a large number of construction projects that, despite having been approved by SEMCOG and added to the Transportation Improvement Plan more than a year ago, have recently been placed in question due to Federal funding issues. The local governments that submitted these projects were simply told that the Federal funds had been exhausted. SEMCOG and several county road commissions are asking that these projects get moved to fiscal year 2015 so they can get the federal funds promised. SEMCOG is also seeking addition funds so that the already committed 2015 projects don’t get bumped to 2016.
This action comes despite the fact that – without fail — 18.4 cents from every gallon of gas sold in the U.S. (24.4 cents for diesel) is shipped to Washington, D.C. and deposited into the National Highway Trust Fund, with a portion of the fund to be earmarked and returned to states for their local road improvement needs.
This dilemma got us asking several questions.
- Why is the federal government involved with local road construction and repair?
- Why is the federal gas tax so high when the federal government need only concern itself with inter-state road maintenance?
- Why do states like Wyoming get back more money from Washington than they send in, while Michigan receives less?
We expressed in our first blog a need for greater community control in roadway planning and design. Today we know this need extends to funding as well. The way to ensure communities have the funding and the freedom to implement the infrastructure system they deem appropriate is to cut the federal gas tax, and increase state and regional infrastructure funding.
According to The Washington Post, Congress is doing just the opposite. A bipartisan Senate proposal is recommending a 12 cent-per-gallon tax hike to “rescue beleaguered federal transportation funding.” The Post claimed that the proposal, penned by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), won quick endorsement from road builders and AAA, among others.
Raising the federal tax, and the ensuing increase in federal oversight, is not the solution. In fact, doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result is often called insanity. As in the previous blog, we urge our readers to contact their state and federal representatives to demand a logical remedy to solve the real problem.
Simply put, allow each state, its regional planning agencies, and its county and local governments the sovereignty to enact policies that increase both local funding and local control of their local infrastructure.