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Continuing Resolution Puts Transportation Funds At Risk
March 11th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Congress will need to pass another continuing resolution (CR) before March 27 to keep the federal government funded. The House last week passed a continuing resolution which shorts transportation programs by more than $700 million. The House CR does not incorporate the carefully achieved consensus on transportation funding found in MAP-21. These cuts from MAP-21 levels would amount to eliminating an additional $555 million for highways, $117 million for transit, and $48.5 million for highway safety. H.R. 933, the House bill, essentially freezes all non-Defense government departments and agencies for Fiscal Year 2013 at their FY 2012 enacted levels. To date, the existing six-month continuing resolution has been funding the government at a slightly higher annual rate, with most accounts receiving an increase of six-tenths of one percent. The Clean Water Act State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) program would remain at $1.46 billion in FY 2013 and the Safe Drinking Water SRF would remain at $918 million. The bill provides funding authority for the last six months of FY 2013, through September 30, 2013, to allow all government agencies and programs to continue operating during that period, and it generally continues the authorities and conditions on such funding that were included in individual FY 2012 appropriations laws. Departments and agencies would not be allowed to initiate or resume any project or activity that wasn’t funded or authorized for FY 2012. Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said this week that she is “confident” that the Senate will change the continuing resolution so that it accounts for the increased spending levels provided in MAP-21, but House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman, Bill Shuster (R-PA), has stated that he did not think including the increased levels was worth potentially taking down the entire CR in the House. Boxer and the leaders of the Senate committees that helped write MAP-21, Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Banking Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD), wrote House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Tuesday to express their “strong disappointment” that the CR doesn’t boost transportation funding. The White House has also come out with a list of issues that the administration would like to see addressed, which includes the transportation changes.
Tags: senate
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Another Win for ASCE State Legislative Efforts
March 1st, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Last week we highlighted a win for ASCE in Wisconsin and brought up the possibility of success in Virginia. Well, last Saturday, February 23, the Virginia General Assembly ended it’s annual session with passage of a sweeping transportation deal. On the last day of the session, the Senate gave its blessing to a plan that dramatically overhauls the way Virginians will pay for roads, highways and mass transit. As you know, the Virginia Section sent a letter to the Governor and legislative leaders encouraging them to finish the job and pass a transportation plan for the state before the session ends. ASCE also issued a Key Alert to members in Virginia urging them to contact state legislators. Read more about the Virginia deal here Let’s take a moment to recognize and congratulate our members for working at the local level!Obama Expands On Infrastructure Proposals
February 25th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
President Obama last week provided more detailson his infrastructure plans that were first
(Photo credit: Steven Vance)
Tags: congress, economics, highway trust fund, infrastructure, infrastructure investment, state of the union address
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ASCE contributes to legislative success in Wisconsin. Will Virginia be next?
February 21st, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Last week ASCE sent a Key Alert to its members in Wisconsin urging passage of legislation that would allow an amendment to the state constitution to protect transportation funding. The passed measure, Assembly Joint
Resolution (AJR) 2, allows the citizens of Wisconsin to vote on amending the state constitution to protect transportation funds intended for transportation from being “raided” for other uses by the state government. AJR 2 passed the Wisconsin Assembly earlier this month and this past week on February 20, 2013 the state Senate voted 25-8 to amend the constitution. , a move that This ensures this issue will be decided by the citizens of Wisconsin by referendum in November 2014. If passed by the voters voters approve a restriction of such spending, the constitution will be amended, protecting Wisconsin’s transportation funds in that state in the future.
Read about the Wisconsin bill here
February 22, ASCE sent a Key Alert to its members that live in Virginia asking them to contact their legislators to support the compromise in favor of multi-year transportation bill that was completed agreed to yesterday. The 100-member House and 40-member Senate have just days to act on the bill. If it fails to garner 51 votes in the House and 21 in the Senate by the time the legislative session ends this Saturday, February 23, one of Virginia’s most pressing problems will again go unaddressed.
Read about the Virginia bill here
What will happen? Find out next week!
Delaney Enters the Innovative Financing Fray
February 20th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Freshman Member of Congress, John Delaney (D-MD), recently announced that he will be introducing an infrastructure funding bill
which would create the Office of Infrastructure Investment and the American Infrastructure Fund. The proposal would develop a large scale financing mechanism for transportation, energy, communication, water, and educational infrastructure using a public-private partnership modal.
According to Delaney the proposal “will combine investments by U.S. corporations, for which they obtain a tax-credit for overseas earnings repatriation, with low-cost funding and project specific private investment to help build the backbone of our country for the future.” The concept comes after President Bill Clinton once again brought up the idea of an infrastructure bank at the House Democratic Issue Conference earlier this month.
ASCE applauds Congressman Delaney for seeking funding for our nation’s infrastructure. Innovative financing such as a National Infrastructure Bank, could provide a fiscally prudent means to begin repairing our nation’s deteriorating infrastructure. Innovative financing techniques can greatly accelerate infrastructure development and can have a powerful economic stimulus effect. The nation must develop and authorize innovative financing programs that not only make resources readily available, but also encourage the most effective and efficient use of those resources. Federal investment must be used to complement, encourage, and leverage investment from the state and local government levels as well as from the private sector. In addition, users of infrastructure must be willing to pay the appropriate price for their use.
However, it must be noted that without long-term financial assurance, the ability of the federal, state, and local governments to do effective infrastructure investment planning will remain severely constrained. Therefore, a National Infrastructure Bank, or other mechanisms that allow for the government to leverage private dollars, cannot be the silver bullet. Instead these concepts should be used as one key to increasing infrastructure investments and should be combined with other innovative, as well as historically proven, revenue streams. Therefore, as the 113th Congress works to provide revenue solutions for infrastructure, ASCE will continue to urge that all options remain on the table. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing Congressman Delaney’s bill!
Tags: congress, infrastructure
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U.S. Chamber Holds Infrastructure Summit
February 19th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The US Chamber of Commerce held a Transportation and Infrastructure Summit this last Wednesday. The event highlighted the need to invest in our nation’s infrastructure and the effects that those investments have on the economy. The day kicked off with opening remarks from US Chamber President, Tom Donahue, who pushed
United States Chamber of Commerce logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tags: congress, infrastructure
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The Federal Role in Infrastructure
February 14th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on Wednesday to examine the federal role in infrastructure. The hearing came the day after President Obama proclaimed in his State of the Union address that that nation must make a commitment to fix the infrastructure that we have.
Chairman Shuster (R-PA) put together an A-list panel, with US Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donahue, LiUNA President Terry O’Sullivan, and Building America’s Future Co-Chair and former Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell all agreeing that the Federal government must be a key player when it comes to the nation’s infrastructure. The witnesses stated that all funding options, including a gas tax increase, MUST be a part of the conversation because it will be costly to build and maintain the world class infrastructure that is required for continued economic growth.
Infrastructure’s relationship to public safety, national security, and economic competitiveness, makes it clear why a strong infrastructure system has always played a critical role to the federal interest. In fact, infrastructure spending and the federal government have a history that dates to Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution that gave Congress the power to “establish post offices and post roads.” The country has expanded significantly since that time, and with it the nation has needed to expand its infrastructure in order to maintain a modern economy.
During the 20th Century, the federal government led the way in building our nation’s greatest infrastructure systems from the Intercontinental Railroad, to New Deal programs, to the Interstate Highway System, and the Clean Water Act. Since that time, federal leadership and investment have decreased, and the condition of the nation’s infrastructure suffered. Unfortunately, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the total of all federal spending for infrastructure has steadily declined over the past 30 years.
As the Committee begins work in the 113th Congress, our nation’s infrastructure will require significant attention. Congress has not reauthorized a Clean Water Act since 1987, a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) since 2007, and the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act will expire in September. The National Dam Safety Program has not been reauthorized since it expired in 2010, and, surface transportation programs while authorized through 2014 still require a sustainable revenue source for the Highway Trust Fund to be viable in the future. Each issue also acts as an example for why the federal government must continue to play a role in funding different facets of our nation’s infrastructure.
ASCE submitted a statement for the hearing, which outlined the economic benefits from a well-functioning infrastructure. ASCE’s Failure to Act reports have found that 3.5 million jobs would be at risk by 2020 if we do not increase investments and that there would be a loss of 3.1 trillion in GDP. Additionally, the current investment shortfall of $1.6 trillion would grow to $2.7 trillion over the next 7 years if we do not increase infrastructure investments now. By improving the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure system both economic and job creation opportunities will be provided, while creating a multi-modal transportation system for the Twenty-First Century.
ASCE Statement on the President's State of the Union Address
February 13th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The following is a statement from Gregory E. DiLoreto, P.E., P.L.S, D.WRE, president of The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), regarding President Obama’s State of the Union address: “As stewards of our nation’s infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers applauds President Obama’s efforts to improve our country’s ailing infrastructure and get America back to work. Infrastructure is the foundation of our communities, and without it, our businesses, schools, and our everyday lives cease to function. “The President said it himself; we have an ‘aging infrastructure badly in need of repair.’ Simply, we must invest in our roads, bridges, ports, and water systems. This will help us build a 21st Century America for an ever-changing 21st Century economy.
Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
The Big Picture on Infrastructure Investment
January 28th, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
With our final report in the Failure to Act series released this week, we saw the big picture consequences of failing to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. With this report, ASCE set out to answer this key question: What is impact on America’s economic future if we do not invest in our infrastructure today? With our analysis – based on current investment trends and expecting funding levels, no sector is meeting its full potential – there are significant investment gaps, or funding shortfalls, in every sector we studied (surface transportation, water/wastewater, electricity, and airports, ports, and inland waterways) by the year 2020. The investment shortfalls mean that much-needed mai
ntenance and modernization is not getting done, and our infrastructure systems start to deteriorate further. For the most part, this isn’t something dramatic you will notice overnight, but a gradual worsening of conditions over time. Your commute will become less reliable, your shipments will take longer. You may experience more electrical outages and water issues. And these things cost us something.
What we did for this final Failure to Act report was to look at the combined, interactive effect of the investment trends in infrastructure between now and 2020.
It’s important to note that this wasn’t a simple math problem of combining the costs and impacts of previous studies. Rather, each infrastructure sector is linked to one another. For example, deteriorating conditions on our nation’s roads may shift goods to travel by rail or barge on the inland waterway system.
What we found in this new study is that the overall cost to households and businesses of deficient infrastructure grows to $1.2 trillion for businesses by 2020 and $611 billion for households, under current investment trends.
Thus, the investment gaps will total $1.1 trillion by 2020, and will grow to $4.7 trillion by 2040.
If we don’t address this funding shortfall of $157 billion a year for our nation’s infrastructure, we will be faced with the following by 2020:
- A projected loss of $3.1 trillion in GDP, almost the equivalent of the 2011 GDP of France
- A $1.1 trillion decline in U.S. trade value, equivalent to Mexico’s GDP
- A loss of 3.5 million jobs in the year 2020 alone, more than the jobs created in the U.S. over the previous 22 months
- A $2.4 trillion decline in consumer spending, comparable to Brazil’s GDP
- A drop of $3,100 in disposable income per year, per household
Energy
January 21st, 2013 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
America relies on an aging electrical grid and pipeline distribution systems, some of which originated in the 1880s. Investment in power transmission has increased since 2005, but ongoing permitting issues, weather events, and limited maintenance have contributed to an increasing number of failures and power interruptions. While demand for electricity has remained level, the availability of energy in the form of electricity, natural gas, and oil will become a greater challenge after 2020 as the population increases. Although about 17,000 miles of additional high-voltage transmission lines and significant oil and gas pipelines are planned over the next five years, permitting and siting issues threaten their completion.
