Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) recently testified to the vital importance of maintaining the nation’s infrastructure for the country’s economic prosperity.
In prepared remarks at the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security Subcommittee “Rebuilding the Nation’s Infrastructure: Leveraging Innovative Financing to Supplement Federal Investment” hearing, Thune called the recent “D+” grade for the nation’s infrastructure given by the American Society of Civil Engineers “unacceptable.”
“Unfortunately, this great need is compounded with the declining revenue stream into the Highway Trust Fund, which is the backbone of the federal government’s investment in transportation infrastructure and, as Secretary Mineta and Mr. Basso know, a significant component of the overall infrastructure funding for states,” Thune said.”
The Highway Trust Fund will have insufficient resources to meet its obligations starting in fiscal year 2015, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and the trust fund will require an additional $15 billion in revenue that year to maintain current spending levels plus inflation.
“That is why it is important to consider new and innovative infrastructure funding mechanisms,” Thune said. “In doing so, however, we must take into account the needs of the entire nation, including rural states like South Dakota, which have unique challenges. That being said, I have always viewed innovative financing as additive and not a replacement for the federal government’s role in ensuring that our nation’s transportation network is maintained and improved.”
Thune said that no money should be diverted from the trust fund to help pay for novel mechanisms because it would undermine the nature of the user-financed structure that is important to the nation’s overall transportation investments.
“The solutions will not be easy, but we must work together to find them,” Thune said.