Between The Lines: Is State Highway Funding On Road To No Where?

Motorists in Arkansas pay for the poor condition of state roads. Or, so says a recent report from a data-gathering organization called TRIP.

The nonprofit organization estimates the annual cost at $2 billion in added vehicle costs, crashes and traffic delays for all of us.

Funding for TRIP comes from insurance companies, equipment manufacturers and other businesses that earn a living off highways and transit, so keep their interests in mind.

But they can still add up the numbers and estimate what it costs owners to make repairs, watch their vehicles depreciate, and pay for more gas and more tires -- much of it attributed to the condition of state and local roads.

Other factors are built into the findings, too, but whether the $2 billion figure is right or not, it is hard to argue the general conclusion that motorists pay when roads are allowed to deteriorate. And, according to TRIP, a lot of state-maintained roads are in poor condition.

The TRIP report dropped last week, just before the Arkansas Legislature is to convene for a session that will undoubtedly include a pitch for more money to fix highways and build new ones.

Significantly, that pitch apparently won't come this session from Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson or from the respective leaders of the two legislative chambers.

All three -- Gov. Hutchinson, Senate President Jonathan Dismang and House Speaker Jeremy Gillam -- told reporters last week that they doubted highways would get more funds this time around.

Hutchinson is determined to cut the state income tax and the leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature have not only said they will co-sponsor the legislation, they've also indicated they're willing to take that issue up early in the session.

Hutchinson wants the $100 million-a-year tax cut handled quickly. Lawmakers convene this week for the session, which will likely see other attempts to cut taxes, too.

Obviously, a tax-cutting Legislature will have less money to work with when it hammers out the rest of the budget.

That won't keep the highway funding issue from coming up. The independent Arkansas Highway Commission will have its usual presence in the halls of the state Capitol and has surely lined up some lawmakers who will advocate for road money.

As you might imagine, the highway commission and the state department it oversees were represented at the news conference when TRIP released its report.

Highway officials are rebuilding the case they've been making for years about revenue from fuel taxes being flat because vehicles are more fuel efficient. Remember, there's a whole new crop of lawmakers for them to educate.

The state Highway and Transportation Department says it needs another $17 billion for unmet highway needs in the next 10 years.

The highway funding situation is made all the more difficult by uncertainty surrounding federal tax dollars that flow to the state.

Commissioners and agency staff will surely remind legislators how existing highway revenue from all sources doesn't come close to meeting needs. And they'll likely argue yet again that a part of the state's general revenue must be redirected to that purpose.

Outgoing Gov. Mike Beebe strongly opposed dipping into general revenue for highway money and held the more recent efforts to do that at bay.

How supportive of channeling general revenue to roads will this Legislature be? That is yet to be determined.

Speaker Gillam has previously encouraged consideration of that approach, although he did say last week he doesn't expect additional highway funding this session.

At the same time, the Senate leader, Dismang, pegged a big problem with seeking more revenue for roads.

Arkansas voters approved a half-cent sales tax for highways just two years ago.

"I think the people back home felt like that was a reasonable amount to put towards highways, and I'm not sure how much more they'd be willing to give," he said.

Voters also agreed just a year earlier to extend a bond issue program for interstate improvements.

Lawmakers never like the prospect of proposing further hits to their constituents' pocketbooks. The only other option is taking money from some other use.

So, the greater problem is fitting any additional highway revenue into the total state budget.

Given this push for new tax cuts by Hutchinson and incoming Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, that's a huge challenge.

The new governor should get a lot of cooperation from his fellow Republicans and from Democrats who will go along rather than be recorded as casting votes against tax cuts.

It will require some deft management of the state's remaining revenue to meet all the existing state funding needs, much less consider shifting more money to roads.

BRENDA BLAGG IS A FREELANCE COLUMNIST AND LONGTIME JOURNALIST IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

Commentary on 01/11/2015

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