Murray: Federal highway fund imperiled
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Senator Patty Murray (Columbian file photo). |
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008
By KATHIE DURBIN, Columbian Staff WriterThe Federal Highway Trust Fund, which provides one-third of the funding states use to build highways and bridges, faces bankruptcy next year unless the current Congress acts to shore it up, Sen. Patty Murray told a state labor convention in Vancouver Tuesday.
Federal gas tax revenue has taken a deep hit as motorists have cut back on driving in the face of soaring gas prices. Highway trust fund receipts were down more than $2 billion through May compared with the same period a year ago, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Officials say the trust fund, which was expected to finance about $40 billion in transportation projects next year, will likely face a $3.2 billion deficit in 2009.
Murray, D-Wash., chairs the Senate Appropriations Transportation subcommittee, which writes the federal transportation budget. She said a bipartisan one-year fix for the crisis, which involved transferring $8 billion from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund, was blocked by a filibuster last week.
“We have a bipartisan agreement to get us through this year,” she told the Washington State Labor Council. But unless the transfer of funds wins approval, she said, “states will not be able to fund transportation projects, and it will cost a half- million jobs in this country. ”
Every $1 billion the federal government invests translates to 35,000 good family-wage jobs, she said.
The Senate passed the bill 51-43 on July 30, but supporters could not gather the 60 votes needed to break the filibuster by two Republican senators, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
The transfer would technically restore $8 billion that was taken out of the Highway Trust Fund at the end of 1998, when it was running a surplus so large that lawmakers thought it would never be drawn down.
Murray said she will keep trying to win support for the transfer bill.
She did not directly address how the shortfall might affect the federal contribution to the Columbia River Crossing project. She is scheduled to meet with project leaders next week to discuss funding issues.
After speaking to the same labor group on Monday, Gov. Chris Gregoire told The Columbian that she believes the federal government must provide more than the $400 million to $600 million for bridge and highway improvements envisioned by project planners. The governor declined to state a specific amount she expects.
Washington and Oregon are expected to contribute between $401.5 million and $715 million each for a project that could total $3.5 billion or more. But both states also face declining state gas tax revenue, and the Washington Legislature faces hard choices next year about how to fund specific projects tied to gas tax increases to which the state is already committed. | 
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