Producers, manufacturers still waiting for highway bill

Pit & Quarry, August, 2004 by Patrick Hernan

Stone producers across the United States have been hit hard by higher fuel prices, which set record after record in the spring before moderating after the Memorial Day holiday. Although Iraq has become an almost-sovereign nation, attacks on its oil-distribution network by insurgents have contributed to supply concerns and raised the possibility that fuel prices again will spike upward.

Construction generally continues to be solid, and there are spot shortages of Portland cement in the United States. The overall domestic economy is producing jobs, and some analysts say the economy could post growth gains not seen in 20 years. If projections hold true, the economy could grow at a rate of 4.7 percent this year, the best rate since 1984. Even so, it's not all coming up roses.

Producers continue to fret about election-year infighting in Washington over a national transportation bill that has been more than a year in the making but still is not settled. Because many states find themselves in the position of being "donees" to the Highway Trust fund--meaning taxpayers send in more money than is returned to them in the form of transportation improvements--it is possible that lawmakers will engage in a filibuster.

Compromise sought

House and Senate conferees were meeting last month to hammer out a compromise between the Senate's $318-billion proposal and a $284-billion proposal by the House. Both proposals offer a six-year spending plan, but the Bush administration continues to say that neither plan is responsible and that more spending curbs are needed.

More than 200 business and industry leaders have urged President Bush in a signed letter to support the Senate's $318 billion reauthorization bill and abandon his veto threat, according to the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA).

NSSGA says the business leaders had wanted an "appropriate level" of $375 billion as originally proposed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, but that a compromise now is in order.

"This letter clearly demonstrates to the president that there's across-the-board support from the people who create jobs in America for a significantly higher level of funding for our vital transportation infrastructure systems," says NSSGA President and CEO Joy Wilson.

Citing a federal study, Wilson says 47,500 jobs are created for every $1 billion of federal highway and transit investment. She also points out that "more than 70 percent of the nation's commerce is dependent on safe and efficient highways, roads and bridges to get goods to market and people to and from work. It makes no sense to shortchange the system."

Willing to pay

Meanwhile, a poll by the Associated Press says a majority of Americans would be willing to pony up more money to pay for highways, bridges and mass transit. Motorists currently are paying 18.4 cents in federal tax for each gallon of gasoline they pump into their cars.

But the AP poll says more than half of Americans (56 percent) would pay more if they got smoother pavement in return. At the same time, however, about half the states have become donor states.

"States are struggling to deal with highway projects that have impacts beyond their state borders," says Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "Many states are finding it impossible to fund multistate highway-corridor projects and projects of regional or national significance with their current highway-formula dollars. We must find additional ways to fund these types of projects."

Wilson says "expeditious action" is needed in both houses of Congress "so that we can go forward with the important job of keeping America moving and working."

"The Senate's [$318 billion] version comes closest to meeting the documented needs of America's infrastructure," Wilson says, adding that "we're nearly a year beyond the expiration of TEA 21 on Sept. 30, 2003."

Congress and the White House must "put partisanship and other political considerations aside and give the states what they need to make their highways and transit programs safe and efficient and create thousands of jobs in the process," Wilson continues. "This year's construction season is upon us and, with no resolution, both new construction and maintenance projects are in jeopardy. States need a final six-year bill to plan for the future."

Adds Pete Ruane, president and CEO of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, "The transportation construction industry's position remains crystal clear: the $318 billion Senate-passed bill should be considered the six-year investment floor. Anything less would shortchange the American motorist and business community demand for a safe, efficient and reliable transportation network. It would also mean a lost opportunity to help boost the U.S. economy."

Ruane says the United States is coming up "woefully short" in its efforts to meet its highway and transit needs.

On the front burner

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) also is pressuring lawmakers not to turn their backs on the Senate bill.