Rep. Sue Minter, who represents Waterbury, Duxbury, Huntington & Buels Gore, is a member of Vermont's House Transportation Committee. Her Op Ed in the Sunday Times Argus calls attention to reality that, "In the face of state budget shortfalls, the Douglas administration has chosen to delay transportation repair projects all around the state":
I wish I could say that I was surprised by the deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota last week. But with what I know about Vermont's infrastructure woes, I knew a major failure like this was only a matter of time. I only hope that this terrible tragedy will serve as a wake-up call here in Vermont and around the country. As a state and as a nation we are not adequately addressing our infrastructure needs. We ignore this problem at our peril.
When I was appointed to serve on the House Transportation Committee three years ago as a new legislator, I was shocked by what I learned about the under-funded and aging transportation system that I had become responsible for overseeing.
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From the EPI:
Infrastructure spending in the United States has declined as a share of GDP from its peak in the late 1960s. This neglect stems from the increased political difficulty of generating public investment revenue by raising taxes. The federal tax on gasoline—the main source of federal highway funds—has not risen in 14 years. Two years ago, Congress proposed a four-cents-per-gallon boost in the fuel tax that would have financed a $375 billion, five-year highway bill. President Bush threatened to veto any highway bill that included a tax increase and Congress backed off, instead presenting a $286 billion spending plan.
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates the cost of repairing or replacing obsolete or deteriorating bridges at $7.4 billion per year. This year's appropriations bill provides slightly less than $4 billion for such infrastructure maintenance, leaving many U.S. roadways in a state of disrepair, and drivers wondering about the safety of their daily commute.
from VT DP"s Douglas' Avoidability Agenda- Weekly Digest Vol 4 Issue 37:
...a full 35 percent of our state's more than 2,700 bridges are classified as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. That is the eighth worst in the country. Even the Republican Chair of the House Transportation Committee concedes that half of Vermont's roads will be in poor condition in five years if we merely maintain current levels of funding.
Governor Douglas claims he can meet these needs within the current budget. But where, exactly, will that money come from? Our needs are increasing, revenues are decreasing, and the administration's own economist projects that transportation revenues this year will come up $2.9 million short.
Instead of addressing these issues head on, Jim Douglas does a fiscal shuffle. This year, the governor tried to raid $14 million from the Education Fund, which finances school spending, to cover for his own failures of leadership on transportation issues. Let's be clear: raiding the Education Fund puts even more pressure on Vermont communities to raise property taxes to pay for schools.
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