Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Blumenthal: Inaction on highway bill could ‘devastate’ plans to fix CT roads

  • Politics
  • by Ana Radelat
  • July 9, 2015
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, at podium.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, at podium.

Washington – Congress faces a looming deadline to approve a highway bill if it wants to keep federal transportation dollars from slowing to a trickle, but there’s no consensus on what to do.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Thursday joined a press conference with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and other Democratic senators who criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for failing to unveil his transportation plan. McConnell said he would put up a transportation bill in about two weeks.

“We’re asking a very simple question, ‘Where is your plan?’” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Democrats like Blumenthal and Schumer are rejecting a short-term fix to the problem posed by the imminent insolvency of the transportation trust fund, financed largely by gasoline and diesel taxes. Fuel-efficient cars and a drop in the number of miles Americans are driving every year has reduced revenues to the trust fund.

Unless Congress acts fast, Foxx said, there will be a “crisis point” at the end of July or beginning of August and he would soon inform each state that they will have  a cutback in transportation funding.

Judd Everhart, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said the state has enough money to continue existing projects, but only for a while.

Everhart said the department “ would not do any re-evaluating  (of its transportation plans) until we are absolutely forced to do so.”

“This is a game that some in Congress seem to enjoy, keeping the states – and their constituents – in suspense until the last minute,” Everhart said. Gov. Dannel Malloy’s administration “is forced to make contingency plans… only to have Congress pass another extension at the 11th hour,” he said.

Like most states, Connecticut counts on the federal government for the lion’s share of transportation dollars.

That money has drifted down from the $633 million the state received in 2010 to about $603 million last year.

According to CDOT, the state  receives more than $50 million from the highway trust fund each month.   If these payments  were to be slightly reduced, the state would continue all ongoing work, covering the shortage with state funds for the short term.

But if federal payments  were significantly reduced, or stopped completely, it is likely that new projects would be halted and ongoing construction could only continue for the very short term, CDOT said.  The agency also said cash flow quickly would become a significant problem, jeopardizing even active construction projects.

 Congress has already passed one short-term highway fix this year — a funding “patch” ends on July 31. There have been more than 20 similar “patches” over the past decade.

The policy problem is that there’s no consensus on how to increase revenues to the highway trust fund.

There’s little political will to raise the gasoline tax, although Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and others back that idea.

So Blumenthal and other Democrats on Thursday promoted a plan that would  shift the international tax code to a territorial system and use the revenue from the transition to replenish the trust fund.

Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Thursday that there isn’t enough time for a long-term highway funding bill to pass Congress before the August recess, and that a shorter fix through the end of the year is likely.

Blumenthal said there must be an end to the “patch and pray” approach to transportation, especially since crumbling infrastructure hurts local – and even the national — economy.

“The crumbling roads and bridges in the Northeast are a chokehold for the rest of the nation,” Blumenthal said, because so many goods and people move on Northeast roads and bridges.

Blumenthal also said a long-term highway bill is needed because “uncertainty is an enemy” of economic development and state abilities to plan big, multi-year infrastructure projects.

He said an abrupt decrease in funding would be “devastating” and “could throw into turmoil” Connecticut plans to repair and replace crumbling roads and bridges.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Equity issues dominate hearing on Lamont’s marijuana bill
by Kelan Lyons and Mark Pazniokas

The administration's testimony took up the hearing's first five hours. More than 130 people are signed up to speak.

Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Senator alleges voter fraud, but no complaint was filed
by Mark Pazniokas

Rob Sampson said a voter in his district was told an absentee ballot already had been cast in her name.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Equity for women and girls essential to rebuild Connecticut’s economy
by Jennifer Steadman and Michelle Riordan-Nold

As Connecticut’s economy seeks to recover and rebuild, our success as a state will depend on how we respond to the disproportionate adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women and girls, particularly women and girls of color.

Opinion Connecticut immigrants deserve health insurance
by Brooke Lifland, MD; Tanner Bommersbach, MD; Marco Ramos, MD PhD; and Eden Almasude, MD

Connecticut should pass House Bill 6334 to expand health insurance to all immigrants regardless of status. Our state wisely chose to protect the immigrant community by using Emergency Medicaid funds to cover expenses associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment for residents who were excluded from Medicaid based on their immigration status.

Opinion Truth or consequences: The impact of lie-based politics
by Charles M. Ericson and Sedona Ericson

A radio show by the above name, emceed by a man named Ralph Edwards, became a big hit starting in 1940. It eventually became a TV show, and all told, it lasted for decades. The format of the show was to be asked a question, and if it was not answered truthfully, the contestant submitted to undertaking a silly stunt of almost any kind. The show seemed reflective of a culture that valued untruth for perceived rewards, however trivial.

Opinion Recreational marijuana and sports gambling will be all around us
by Steven Block

It is likely that every other state in the Northeast will regulate both marijuana and sports gambling within a few years. The passage of these important bills in 2021 will allow Connecticut to become a competitive force in the region rather than an island of legislative stagnation.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO