AASHTO Journal, 27 March 2015
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., took advantage of a March 24 Senate hearing on reauthorizing the Highway Trust Fund to prod legislators back home to boost Missouri’s own funding for transportation.
McCaskill questions Nichols at Senate hearing.She and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., each introduced Missouri Department of Transportation Director Dave Nichols, who was speaking on behalf of state DOTs about federal safety performance standards at a hearing of a Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee.
The two Missouri senators praised Nichols for his service running their state’s DOT as he nears a planned retirement on May 1, and Blunt said he hoped Nichols would continue to be available after he retires to provide counsel to the Senate committee.
McCaskill also praised Nichols’ work, but said “he is going to be retiring at the apex of a crisis in our state” in that Missouri’s transportation revenue is projected by 2017 to be too low to maintain the full state highway system.
She said Nichols has been sounding the alarm back home. “I know he is busy every day trying to convey to the people of Missouri that this crisis is one that is not going to be solved in Washington.”
AASHTO Journal previously reported that Nichols used a recent bridge repair over Interstate 70 near the middle of the state to highlight the growing wear and tear on roads and bridges as current funding levels.
McCaskill said Congress also needs to do its own work to keep federal highway funds flowing as the Highway Trust Fund faces a May 31 reauthorization deadline. “But we have a real problem in Jefferson City” – the state capital where the General Assembly is in session – “with the amount of resources that are going toward this critical infrastructure,” the senator said.
She returned to that home-state funding issue later in the hearing, asking Nichols about Missouri’s ability to match federal-aid highway funding even after Congress extends and replenishes the Highway Trust Fund.
Nichols reiterated what he has told state officials and has been previously reported, that at current state funding levels by 2017 Missouri will not have enough transportation revenue to cover matching fund requirements of the federal program.
“I hope the people of Missouri figure this out,” McCaskill responded.