AASHTO Journal, 28 February 2014
On Thursday, both President Obama and House Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp (R-MI) released proposals that would raise revenue from corporate tax reform to invest in transportation infrastructure projects across the nation.
Obama, speaking at Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn., called for a $302 billion, four-year surface transportation bill to follow up MAP-21 and allow for greater certainty with funding at the state and local level. Of that $302 billion, preliminary indications are that $206 billion would go toward investing in highways and road safety, $72 billion for transit, $19 billion for rail programs, and $9 billion for competitive funding for programs like the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. The administration says the bill would also stress coordination and local decision making so that “communities can better realize their vision for improved mobility.”
President Obama and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx also announced the availability of $600 million for the next round of TIGER grants at the same event. Read additional information in a related AASHTO Journal story here.
Camp’s measure is a full tax reform document that touches on transportation as a small piece of that reform. In his bill, the HTF would receive $126.5 billion through the repatriation of corporate tax income, enough to keep the HTF solvent for approximately eight years at current funding levels. Camp’s proposal would also generate about $200 million between 2014-2023 through a 6-cent-per-gallon fee for ships traveling the inland waterways.
“We are encouraged by both President Obama’s proposed four-year, $302 billion transportation bill and Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp’s proposal to dedicate $126.5 billion to the Highway Trust Fund. We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress on a new surface transportation bill,” said Bud Wright, AASHTO executive director. “The crisis facing the Highway Trust Fund and our national transportation infrastructure is very real. It is good news that the Administration and Congressional leadership in both houses are looking seriously at strategies to invest in transportation and maintain the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund and the programs it supports.”
Camp said his measure is a draft for the House to work with. Obama is expected to release more information on his bill next week as his proposed fiscal year 2015 budget is released.
Additional details on the administration’s proposal are available here. Camp’s bill is available here.