‘Economy’ highway bill favored Transportation funding, with changes, nears OK

AUGUSTA – Nearing the finish line of the 2007 session, lawmakers embraced a “stripped-down version” of a transportation funding bill that drops fee increases that were proposed earlier but retains revenue-generating horsepower, a key Senate supporter said Thursday.

Lawmakers were expected to amend a bill that’s intended to address long-term needs of the state highway and bridge program Thursday night. The original bill, LD 1790, which drew strong House support earlier in the week, was revisited amid concerns about an array of motor vehicle fee increases and transfers of General Fund money.

But Sen. Dennis Damon, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee, said that while some of the revenue sources were cut out, the reworked bill still creates a structure to build up needed reserves for the highway and bridge network.

“It’s the stripped-down version,” said Damon, D-Trenton. “The economy version.”

The amended bill retains a provision that redirects 7.5 percent of the current Highway Fund to a Transportation Capital Fund, or TransCap, from which funds for projects can be drawn.

It also retains a series of goals that will guide transportation investments down the road, said Damon.

But gone from the new version are fee hikes for vehicle and trailer registrations, salvage certificates, vanity plates and transfers. The amendment also cut out a provision that would have increased the level of General Fund revenues that support the state police, while decreasing the Highway Fund’s share.

It also leaves out a provision that would have directed a sales tax on car rentals to nonhighway transportation projects, principally the Downeaster passenger train.

The bill was revamped a couple of days after Gov. John Baldacci signed into law a $1.2 billion budget to cover the costs of maintaining Maine’s roads, bridges, ferries, railroads and airports for the two years starting July 1.

That Highway Fund budget also included authorization for $50 million in Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles, or “GARVEE” bonds. More than half of the states issue those bonds in anticipation of expected federal transportation funds.

Action on highway financing came amid warnings by Damon and others of the deteriorating condition of the state’s highway and bridge system.

They say that because of slowed-down fuel tax revenues due to increased efficiency of vehicles and people choosing to drive less, the state is falling behind in needed reconstruction and improvement projects.

While the state should rehabilitate more than 150 miles of highways every year, the coming Transportation Department work schedule plan proposes only 39 miles a year.

At that rate, a state road would be rehabilitated once every 215 years, highway funding advocates said.