NEWS

Bills to fund backlog of roadwork clear committee

Alexandria Burris
aburris@gannett.com

Bills designed to chip away at the $12.3 billion backlog in Louisiana road and bridge maintenance projects cleared the House Appropriations Committee Monday.

The bills are by Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton, chairman of the Senate Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee. Addressing the full backlog will take some time, Adley said after leaving the committee.

“There’s not enough money.”

The bills, though, are a start, the veteran legislator said.

Adley said the bills will do two things: help maintain the state’s current roads and chip away at the backlog.

The first bill, Senate Bill 122, increases the base amount of mineral revenues — from royalties, leases and other sources — the state receives from $850 million to $950 million before it’s deposited into the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund every year.

SB 221, which involves the motor vehicle sales tax, dedicates any general fund revenue associated with the increase of the the mineral revenue base into a special fund that would be allocated to the Transportation Trust Fund and higher education.

The bills are the product of a year-long study aimed at funding state transportation projects, Adley told the committee.

“In the study, we recognized that we had a short-term problem and a long-term problem,” Adley said. “ Short-term problem meaning we need the dollars to maintain the current roads we have. The magic number to do that is $70 million a year because that allows us to get to our 80/20 match on federal money.”

Current law dedicates sales taxes from new motor vehicle sales to roads once the state general fund hits $9.9 billion dollars. After that, $400 million would go to the Transportation Trust Fund.

That’s not expected to happen until at least 2020 or 2021, Adley said.

“Clearly, we cannot wait that long,” he said. “And the other problem is, you know from sitting on this committee, that between 2020 and 2021 taking $400 million out of the state general fund is just not a reality.”

With Adley’s bill, $100 million instead of $400 million would be available.

The senator said the state needs an off-setting revenue to get the $70 million needed for roads and bridges. Adley said the state is allowed to increase the base revenue for its Budget Stabilization Fund, which contains mineral revenues, every 10 years.

The 10-year period was reached last year and increasing it now would free up the $100 million for the state general fund before the money flows into the Budget Stabilization Fund, Adley said.

“If you do that, you would have the off-set to start moving the next bill which would be the vehicle sales tax revenue to $100 million,” he said.

SB 221 dedicates the first $70 million of the $100 million to state highway pavements and bridge sustainability projects.

House Appropriations Chairman Rep. James “Jim” Fannin, R-Jonesboro, offered an amendment to SB 221, which passed, to prevent funds from the account from going to state police.

“It’s a friendly amendment,” Fannin said. “A little firewall.”