A BREAK FOR STATES

Mainers who grumble about the Legislature’s poor decision to increase the gas tax automatically and grumble louder about the condition of Maine highways may be made a bit happier by the news that more of their federal taxes could be returning to the state in the form of transportation dollars for roads and bridges. No? Then consider that the added $38 million in support will keep Maine on track for road repair and, not incidentally, employ a lot of people.

Working with Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, Sen. Olympia Snowe got an added $8.6 billion added to the federal highway budget in the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Sen. Murray heads the transportation subcommittee. Before their effort, Maine was stuck. It couldn’t ask for more from state residents, yet nationally the drop in sales of gasoline, tires, trucks and trailers, and an increase in gasohol revenue, which is taxed at a lower rate than gasoline, meant that the federal government would be passing back 27 percent less funding compared with last year. The full Senate will vote on the bill in September to bring funding back to the previous year’s level. It is likely to pass, and then must be aligned with the smaller House bill, where a compromise may be expected.

According to the Maine Department of Transportation, the level of Senate funding would result in more than 1,500 construction jobs in the state. A lack of legislative commitment means that Maine no longer comes near the amount of money it once invested in maintaining its highways, and its old bridges and its crumbling roads show it. The loss of federal dollars would make the decline even worse, with the state eventually spending more time on emergency repairs and less on maintenance required to keep the system safe.

The proposed money for highways would also show that Congress understands its tax-cut decisions in the last year have contributed to almost all states running shortfalls. The National Governors’ Association has reminded Congress of this often and lobbied for the additional increase. Many other factors affected state revenues but, like the Senate’s recent vote to temporarily increase Medicaid to states, the proposed highway funding would help them out significantly.

As important as the level of funding, Congress should be examining ways to make the funding sources for highways more predictable. The Bush administration, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, already is working on this issue, along with adding rules to ensure that money from the Highway Trust Fund is spent on highways, and finding new sources for funding transportation-related projects. The administration expects to complete its plan early this winter.

Meantime, the funding proposal in the Senate is badly needed for the states.