Anyone who questions the need for an increase in the state’s 20-cent gasoline tax should read the 2017 Louisiana Infrastructure Report Card. The study compiled by the state section of the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the state’s roads a “D” rating and bridges a “D-plus.”
Ratings were also given for dams, aviation, levees, ports, solid waste, wastewater, drinking water, inland waterways and coastal areas. None received better than a “C-plus,” and the grade point average for all 11 was a “D-plus.”
The 2017 report card is available at http://ift.tt/2pu1t43.
Five years ago, the engineers said Louisiana’s 11 infrastructure areas needed immediate attention. The situation has only gotten much worse.
The study notes that Louisiana has more than 61,000 miles of roadways and 18,359 (30 percent) of those miles are state-owned and maintained by the state Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). They are funded with 16 cents of the 20-cent gasoline tax that generated $500 million in 2016.
The other 4 cents is paying off the cost of 14 completed major projects approved in 1989. Those included the four-laning of U.S. 171 and U.S. 165 that serve Southwest Louisiana and other areas of the state.
The total gasoline tax is 38.4 cents, the 20-cent state tax plus an 18.4-cent federal tax.
The state receives about $677 million per year in federal highway funds for which the state must provide matching funds. If more road revenue isn’t raised during the current session, it has been reported the state won’t quality for millions in federal funds.
The Legislature in 1984 doubled the existing 8-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to the current 16 cents. That money is worth only 7 cents in today’s dollars.
Motorists who are traveling Louisiana roads today can vouch for the tremendous traffic problems in most metropolitan areas. The Lake Charles metropolitan area is the latest to see a major upturn in vehicle traffic on all of its highways.
The most disturbing traffic nightmare takes place at the Interstate 10 bridge at Baton Rouge during almost every hour of the day. The engineers’ study quoted from the 2015 TTI Urban Mobility Scorecard at http://ift.tt/2qi5P12 that said Baton Rouge is ranked 38th in the nation for travel delays. In 2015, the capital city experienced 23.2 million hours of delay.
Baton Rouge is past due for another bridge across the Mississippi River there at a cost of $1 billion. It would take nearly a decade to complete. Another I-10 bridge over the Calcasieu River at Lake Charles is also overdue.
A task force studying transportation objectives concluded an additional $700 million would be needed annually to begin correcting aggravated road and bridge problems. That would require a gasoline tax increase of 23 cents per gallon that even supporters of boosting the tax say isn’t realistic.
The Advocate, which has covered the state’s road and bridge issues in detail, reported Friday that backers of the first gasoline tax increase in 28 years have a three-prong plan that can pass a reluctant Legislature.
Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, is sponsoring House Bill 632, a 17-cent increase in the state gasoline tax that will raise $510 million annually. Leaders of 32 influential groups in the state are supporting the measure.
However, the first goal of supporters is passage of Senate Bill 57 by Sen. Page Cortez, R-Lafayette and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. It would ban the transfer of road and bridge dollars to State Police, a continuing complaint of those who oppose a gasoline tax increase. Since 1991, $679.4 million in Transportation Trust Fund money has gone to State Police, according to The Advocate.
S.B. 57 has been approved in committee and is awaiting action in the full Senate.
Two other bills are designed to restore voter confidence by clamping down on DOTD operations. Both are scheduled to be debated Monday by the House Transportation Committee.
Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is sponsor of H.B. 598. It seeks to require DOTD to spell out three-year timelines for projects, require annual reports to the Legislature on administrative and other costs and yearly checks from the legislative auditor to ensure dollars are being spent as intended.
Rep. Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville and chairman of the House Transportation Committee, is sponsor of H.B. 604. It would require DOTD to follow a seven-step process on projects and to provide yearly updates for the public on how things are going.
Havard said, “The intent of my bill is to put some accountability in the DOTD process so that the consumer, or the citizens if they do support a gas tax, can be assured that the money is going where it is supposed to go, concrete and asphalt, and not some black hole somewhere.”
Speaker of the House Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, said he doesn’t think backers currently have enough votes to get a major gas tax hike through the House. This is one of the most critical votes legislators will be taking this session.
What Barras needs to do is show some tough leadership. First, he should publicly voice his strong support for the gasoline tax increase. Then, he can call in favors from the House members he has appointed to committees they wanted in return for their support during the speaker’s election. That is what dynamic leaders do in times of crisis, and this is definitely one of those times.
Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than five decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jbeam@americanpress.com.
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