Why we need a new surface transportation reauthorization bill now
by Michele Stanley · The Washington TimesOPINION:
As a nation, we travel 3.3 trillion miles each year using our road and bridge infrastructure, which is also used to move a significant portion of the $28.5 trillion worth of commodities annually shipped across the country. However, we all know firsthand the poor conditions of our infrastructure network. This is overwhelmingly due to the need for improvements outpaces the amount of funding available.
Investment into our highways and bridges is vital. America’s roads, bridges and highways connect families to schools; workers to jobs; and businesses to customers. These are pillars of our strong economy.
Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass a surface transportation reauthorization bill. This legislation provides the reliable funding to modernize roads and bridges, so Americans can safely travel, and goods and services can be efficiently delivered. Without a new multi-year bill, the impact on our infrastructure and our economy will be dramatic, as states will face sharp funding cuts and stalled modernization. This would also severely limit the ability to plan for future improvements.
A lack of investment would negatively impact Americans’ daily lives and our nation’s economy. Congress needs to approve long-term, flexible infrastructure legislation to enable long-term success for our country.
Businesses, states and local governments need long-term funding certainty. Such large projects require capital investments to meet those needs, which are challenged with minimal or short-term funding. Long-range planning requires long-term resources. Infrastructure projects support thousands of family-sustaining jobs in the construction materials industry and generate billions of dollars in economic activity. According to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, over $650 billion in economic activity is generated annually from the design, construction and maintenance work of transportation projects, which creates and supports 4.4 million jobs across the nation’s economy.
To continue this momentum, Congress must act on a new surface transportation reauthorization bill this year. It must provide strong funding for core highway formula programs. Big projects take time and money, and our nation’s infrastructure is no different. These resources give states the stable, multi-year certainty needed to efficiently plan and complete their own highway and bridge projects.
The surface transportation reauthorization bill must also stabilize the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The HTF, backed by user fees, is the lifeblood of America’s surface transportation network. Unfortunately, this fund faces a projected shortfall without congressional action.
Everyone who uses our roads should contribute to keeping them maintained. Each fill-up at a gas station provides money to the HTF, though the federal gas tax rate of $00.184 per gallon was set over 30 years ago. Currently, electric vehicles skirt this user fee.
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A strong, solvent HTF means safer roads, stronger bridges, and the ability for aggregates producers, like National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) members, to keep building the infrastructure America relies on every day. As Congress moves toward reauthorization, everyone that uses our roads should pay for them.
NSSGA members proudly play a critical role in building and modernizing our infrastructure sector by providing the aggregates materials of crushed stone, sand and gravel. These materials create all residential, commercial, and industrial projects. NSSGA members employ more than 105,000 people with high-paying jobs, and our industry supports nearly six jobs across the U.S. economy for every one job we employ.
Sept. 30 is rapidly approaching. Congress must meet this critical moment in history by passing multi-year, predictable funding to improve our infrastructure and grow our economy. We cannot afford for time to run out, as every American depends on safe, maintained roads, bridges and public works projects. America should be a global leader on infrastructure, and that can only happen if Congress fulfills its obligation to provide a meaningful, on-time surface transportation reauthorization bill.
• Michele Stanley is President & CEO of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, the leading advocate for the aggregates industry. Its members stone, sand and gravel producers and the equipment manufacturers and service providers who support them produce the essential raw materials found in homes, buildings, roads, bridges and public works projects.