Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85686
final word | by Kirk Landers Dodging an ity of Obamacare in late June, a House/ Senate conference committee ended a 1,000-day-plus national disgrace by agree- ing to a two-year (actually, 27-month) transportation act. W The new act ended several years of short term extensions of the previous transportation program, a period of un- certainty during which state departments of transportation avoided launching major rehabilitation and rebuilding projects – the type of work that employs large numbers of heavy construction firms and workers. While the conference committee prin- ciples issued grand pronouncements of the epic significance of MAP-21 (Moving Ahead For Progress in the 21st Century), construction industry representatives were much more measured in their response to the new program. Pete Ruane, President and CEO of ARTBA (American Road & Transporta- tion Builders Association), acknowledged the stability the new program brings to transportation, but added, "The bad news is there is no new money." That, of course, is what all the delay has been about. All real solutions to our highway problems begin and end with the need for more investment. The federal fuel tax, which funds the highway pro- gram, is a flat tax (18.4-cents per gallon) that hasn't been raised for nearly 20 years. Tax increases, even a fuel tax increase, are viewed as political suicide today. And so our leaders have postured and preened 74 August 2012 | EquipmentWorld.com hile the news media and political partisans obsessed over the Su- preme Court's decision on the constitutional- unpleasant reality for three years while only pretending to solve our road problem. More's the pity. When a divided Con- gress like this one is willing to confront problems, intelligent and long lasting solutions are possible. Flawed as it is, MAP-21 provides a taste of that potential. To get a bill, conferees had to shed the legislation of encumbrances like the Key- stone pipeline that, while important, are not part of the transportation challenge. Then the sides – left and right, House and Senate – sifted through an agenda of wickedly divided points of view to arrive at a series of pragmatic compromises. House conservatives relented on strict fis- cal discipline and the duration of the bill (the House bill was another short term extension), while liberals and moderates gave ground on environmental streamlin- ing and allowing states more flexibility in how they invest federal funds. Unfortunately, because the spirit of constructive compromise was never applied to a realistic funding solution, MAP-21 is not a legislative landmark. It is just another monument to a nation and a congress that no longer believes in itself. A two-year bill is better than a six-month extension, but far short of the five or six year program we need. Funding levels of $40 billion a year fall $10 billion short of the national need by the most conserva- tive estimates, and even at that anemic level have to be subsidized by general revenues, adding to the deficit pressure on the federal budget. MAP-21 is not a victory for anyone. Nor is it an accomplishment. It is a ques- tion: How will we ever solve unpleasant problems if we are not willing to pursue unpleasant solutions together? EW MAP-21 is not a victory for anyone. Nor is it an accomplishment.