Mo. lawmaker seeks 5-6 year transportation reauthorization plan

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) is advocating for a five- to six-year federal transportation reauthorization plan in order to give state governments the certainty to plan for major infrastructure improvements over the long term.

“It is critical to businesses that will be tasked with completing highway construction projects, state DOTs and local governments responsible for planning these projects, and to taxpayers who want to see their money spent as efficiently as possible,” Graves, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, said in emailed remarks to The Ripon Advance.

Revenue produced from the current tax on gasoline that is put toward repairing and improving the nation’s highways, bridges and transit systems has fallen short of actual funding needs. Lawmakers are considering a range of options to fill that revenue gap before the federal Highway Trust Fund runs out of money.

“I have been a big supporter of using royalties from expanded oil and gas leasing on federal lands,” Grave said. “At the same time, I recognize that there is no silver bullet to this problem. We need to consider a broad range of options to solve it, and everything is on the table.”

Graves said his home state has its own challenges with funding transportation and infrastructure projects, given its 35,000 highway miles and 10,000 bridges that need to be maintained and improved.

“This is obviously something that I would like to see Missouri’s Department of Transportation have the resources to do, but ultimately this is really a national problem,” Graves said. “There are infrastructure systems all over this country that need attention, and I want to give every state’s government some certainty to plan for significant improvements through long-term projects.”

Over the last six years, Congress has funded the nation’s transportation system with 32 short-term measures, including the $10.7 billion measure for fiscal year 2014 that expires on May 31.