The North Dakota Department of Transportation is “very excited” about the bill, having operated since 2005 on short-term funding extensions and continuing resolutions passed by Congress, said Steve Salwei, transportation programs director. The bill does not include any meaningful reforms to address the structural problems in highway funding, while making numerous problems worse by increasing spending out of the deeply troubled Highway Trust Fund that has already required $73 billion in bailouts since 2008. The money is not earmarked to specific projects.
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In total, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act promises $305 billion to all 50 states over the next five years.
All seven members of Oregon’s congressional delegation voted in favor of the legislation.
Susie Alcorn, executive director of the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance, said Thursday the new federal highway bill does not solve Tennessee’s road problems. Rep. Peter DeFazio and Sen.
“This is a common-sense, bipartisan bill that provides our state and local governments with the certainty they need to begin to plan for long-term projects that bring our aging system into the 21st century”, DeFazio said in a statement.
The two OR projects were among just eight projects added to the high-priority list. “I do not support the FAST Act because it spends too much, preserves Washington’s power in picking winners and losers in transportation funding, and even revives the crony capitalist Export-Import Bank”, Rubio said in a release.
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But Mr. Shuster agreed with those who criticized the use of supplements, such as selling 66 million barrels from the military oil reserve, because of the shortfall of funds in the Federal Highway Trust fund. The trust is funded through the 18.5-cent federal gasoline tax, which hasn’t increased since 1992 while the fuel efficiency of vehicles has improved substantially.
