Capitalizing on Highway Funding

I was fortunate to be asked to give the keynote address to the Missouri Conference on Transportation last week in Jefferson City. The conversation focused on a variety of issues facing Missouri's transportation system, most importantly the funding we need to repair roads across the state.

As the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highway and Transit, I helped write and pass a federal Highway Bill at the end of 2015. It was the first long-term bill agreed to by Congress in 10 years, and it will give Missouri about $1 billion dollars per year to spend on transportation projects through 2021. Money that will be used to expand lanes, fill potholes, and rebuild bridges.

But repairing our state's roads is no simple task, and the Missouri Department of Transportation needs all the support it can get. Missouri has the seventh largest highway system in the country, and MoDOT is responsible for maintaining about 34,000 roadway miles and 10,000 bridges across our state.

The Highway Trust Fund is one of the only true trust funds we have in this country. For decades, state and local governments have relied on income from the gas tax to maintain roads that get us to work, our kids to school, and food to our grocery stores. However, gasoline use has declined as cars have become more fuel efficient. This change is good in a lot of ways, but it means our policies have to change too.

A few options are on the table, including eliminating the gas tax entirely in place of a vehicle miles tax, but there are a lot of issues that need to be ironed out first. And more proposals are sure to develop before the next Highway Bill reauthorization.

For now, the Highway Bill gives Missouri confidence and certainty to plan construction projects on highways across the state. But it is so critical for us to be able to take full advantage of the law. Please know I will continue doing everything possible to give Missouri the resources it needs to maintain our roads, bridges and highways.

If you would like to view the full video of my address to the conference, you can find it here.

Sincerely,

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Sam Graves