The LuLac Edition #2882, April 22nd, 2015

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WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

WE CAN'T AFFORD TO BACK DOWN FROM INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS

Your blog editor, Representative Lou Barletta and L.A. Tarone on WYLN TV 35's Topic A. (Photo: LuLac archives).

Representative Lou Barletta wrote some commentary on the infrastructure problem in the United States and our state. Here's what he wrote in Roll Call.
In Pennsylvania, we have some of the most run-down roads and bridges in the country. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 22 percent of our state’s roads have unacceptable pavement quality and 43 percent of our bridges are functionally obsolete or structurally deficient. Earlier this month, I visited the Greenfield Bridge, where another bridge had to be built underneath to protect drivers from debris falling from Greenfield’s crumbling infrastructure.
Both Republicans and Democrats agree that at the federal level, we have a constitutional responsibility to maintain our national transportation infrastructure system and find a sustainable way to pay for it.
The Highway Trust Fund is estimated to go bankrupt this summer, unless Congress acts now. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this fund has almost run dry. Since 2008, we have made six transfers — in total more than $60 billion — to the Highway Trust Fund from the General Fund, which is paid for by tax dollars and borrowing money from foreign countries such as China. This is not sustainable or fiscally responsible. We need a better, more affordable solution.
I have been working on leveraging private sector savings on major infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships. My colleagues in the House and Senate are starting to talk about ideas to shore up the Highway Trust Fund by repatriating funds from overseas, increasing tolls on our highways, increasing taxes on heavy-duty commercial vehicles, applying the gas tax to alternative fuels, and raising revenue from oil and gas royalties on federal lands.
My constituents sent me to Congress to implement real solutions, not to just talk about ideas. Therefore, I am proud to support Ohio Republican Rep. James B. Renacci’s Bridge to Sustainable Infrastructure Act. This commonsense legislation would create a bipartisan, bicameral committee to force Congress to fix the Highway Trust Fund and provide 10 years of investment in our roads and bridges. All options are on the table. If, and only if, Congress fails to develop a solution, the bill requires modifications to the gas and diesel taxes to make up for the shortfalls in the Highway Trust Fund.
The gas and diesel taxes are the sole funding source for the Highway Trust Fund, but they haven’t been adjusted for more than 20 years and are not indexed for inflation. The costs of building and maintaining our roads and bridges have soared, but the funding source for these projects has stayed the same. Since 1993, the number of cars and trucks on our roads has increased and, at the same time, their fuel efficiency improved — meaning more wear and tear, but less money to repair. Clearly, times have changed. With that being said, I have very real concerns that simply increasing the gas tax would be like betting on a dying horse.

Rep. Lou Barletta is a Republican from Pennsylvania representing the 11th Congressional district.