There may be, finally, light at the end of the funding tunnel.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Thursday a six-year, $339 billion highway transportation bill by a 363-64 vote. The Senate had passed a similar bill (authorizing $350 billion) this past summer, and the two bodies will now conference and, with some luck, come to an agreement on a reconciled bill to fund highway transportation improvements.
The Senate vote was 65-34, so there is optimism that there is enough support to get a unified bill done. It’s Congress, so what could go wrong?
“We just popped open the champagne, and we’re calling it a day,” said Shannon Newton, the president of the Arkansas Trucking Association.
Newton was joking, although she and the trucking industry are understandably pleased by the rapid turn of events. The American Trucking Associations held its annual safety conference in Little Rock last week, and Newton said many trucking executives and officials were following the House bill but no one expected such a quick passage.
“There was a general optimism that hadn’t been felt by that group in quite some time,” Newton said. “Officially, we are thrilled with the prospect of a long-term highway bill being signed by the end of the year. It seemed like such a long shot.”
Congress had passed 35 short-term funding fixes in the past six years in lieu of a long-term solution. The latest stopgap measure will expire at the end of this month.
The lack of funding certainty has caused many highway projects to be postponed or canceled. The Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department postponed bids on 87 projects, although it has since reopened bidding on 30 of those.
“Anything is a step in the right direction,” said Danny Straessle, public information officer for AHTD. “As long as it is not piecemeal funding like we’ve been getting. We can’t plan for future without knowing the money is going to be there.”
Newton said that there were some “pay-fors” — sources of new money — that the trucking industry didn’t necessarily agree with. The funding in both bills is guaranteed for three years, so Congress would have to figure out how to fund a portion of years four through six.
No worries, right?
“No bill is perfect,” Newton said.
Straessle said the department would have to review the passed legislation before making specific comments on it. The American Trucking Associations immediately posted a congratulations banner and news release on its website.
“It is refreshing, after so much delay, that Congress appears poised to pass this important bill,” said ATA Chairman Pat Thomas. “But the job isn’t finished and we look forward to Congress passing a long-term, well-funded bill that improves efficiency and safety on our highways.”
Newton is a member of Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s 20-person Working Group on Highway Funding, a committee that the governor put together to come up with potential solutions for state funding. She said that a federal funding resolution wouldn’t change the working group’s directive but it would remove some anxiety.
AHTD Director Scott Bennett said earlier this year that the department was postponing the state’s $50 million Overlay Program because of a lack of state funding. Overlaying a road is much cheaper — approximately $1.3 million a mile — than replacing it, and the program is 100 percent state-funded through this year.
Newton said the important aspect of the law — assuming that it looks a lot like the bills that have come from the Senate and the House — is the length. Three years, with a good possibility of three more, is much better than the months-at-a-time strategy of the past six years.
“It’s knowing,” Newton said. “The greatest value is knowing what you’ll receive and when. Whether it is $100 or $100 million, you’d rather know what you’re getting, even if it is not what you wanted.”
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