Committee working out differences in transportation bond bills

A legislative conference committee is meeting to iron out differences between multi-year transportation bond bills passed in recent months by the House and Senate.

Both versions would provide a record $300 million for the Chapter 90 local road and bridge maintenance program, but they differ in the length of the commitment. The House version (H. 3882) includes funding only for fiscal 2015, while the Senate bill would fund the program at $300 million per year for five years. The MMA has asked the committee to adopt the Senate plan.

The Senate bill (S. 2033) also includes a provision to require the administration to release final Chapter 90 allocation letters to cities and towns by March 1 each year, a month earlier than the current schedule. The release of Chapter 90 funds has been significantly delayed each of the past three years, dramatically shortening the construction season.

In a letter to the conference committee, the MMA wrote, “The stability and predictability that comes with a multi-year authorization maximizes the efficient use of taxpayer dollars, enables communities to plan and invest systematically to address safety and congestion issues, and provides the investment necessary to create jobs and support economic growth.”

The MMA opposes a provision in the Senate bill that would require all cities and towns to file with the Department of Transportation a five-year plan for their Chapter 90 projects by Dec. 31, 2014. The MMA argues that the provision conflicts with legislation enacted last year to create the Performance and Asset Management Commission, which has been charged with providing both state and local government with guidance on the management of transportation assets, including proper planning for construction, maintenance and financing.

The legislative conference committee – consisting of Reps. William Straus, Stephen Kulik and Peter Durant and Sens. Tom McGee, Stephen Brewer and Robert Hedlund – held its first meeting last Thursday and is scheduled to meet twice this week.

While the Legislature continues to support an increase in the Chapter 90 program from $200 million to $300 million per year, it is up to the governor to decide how much of the authorization will be released. Transportation Secretary Richard Davey has said that without additional revenue the administration would only release $200 million for Chapter 90, as it did in fiscal 2014. The Department of Transportation’s $12.4 billion, five-year capital plan level-funds the Chapter 90 program at $200 million per year over the next five years.

A statewide survey conducted by the MMA a year ago documents that the state’s cities and towns would need to spend $562 million each year to maintain local roads in a “state of good repair,” the industry standard, but communities spend far less due to inadequate resources.

• View the MMA’s letter to the transportation bond bill conference committee