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June 29. 2012 8:30PM
Several months ago, the state bonded $115 million for the massive project and took a “leap of faith” that federal funds would be there to pay it back. The bill that passed Friday delivers those funds. (UNION LEADER FILE)
Major I-93 funding approved in Congress
Several months ago, the state bonded $115 million for the massive project and took a “leap of faith” that federal funds would be there to pay it back. The bill that passed Friday delivers those funds. (UNION LEADER FILE)
WASHINGTON — A federal transportation bill passed by Congress Friday secures funding for the widening of Interstate 93 from the Massachusetts border to Exit 3 in Windham and the completion of several interchanges along the way, officials said.
Several months ago, the state bonded $115 million for the massive project and took a “leap of faith” that federal funds would be there to pay it back. The bill that passed Friday delivers those funds.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, said she was “thrilled” the bill passed, even though New Hampshire will receive $10 million less than under the final compromise version than it would have received had the Senate version passed.
“It means we have some certainty in funding for our state Department of Transportation, the local communities and businesses that depend on those transportation dollars to keep people working and get projects done so that they can continue to put people back to work,” Shaheen said.
“For the lower part of Interstate 93, it means certainty, it means the project is going forward,” she said.
While Democrat Shaheen and the state's two Republican House members, Frank Guinta and Charles Bass, voted for the bill, Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte was one of only 19 senators to oppose it. The House vote was 373-52, while the Senate passed it, 74-19.
Ayotte said that while Interstate 93 is a worthy project, the bill “continues Washington's addiction to irresponsible borrowing” and is “yet another 'buy now, pay later' scheme that fails to fundamentally reform how we pay for highway projects.”
The votes came after congressional leaders reached rare bipartisan agreement Wednesday on a package that will spend $120 billion through Sept. 30, 2014.
Packaged with the transportation bill was a provision preventing a doubling to 6.8 percent of Stafford student loan interest rates for 7 million college undergraduates.
Shaheen called that “especially good news for us in New Hampshire, where we have the highest average student loan debt in the country.”
The transportation measure has been touted by both political parties as the biggest jobs bill of the year. In reaching agreement, Republicans dropped their demand to attach to the bill approval for the Keystone oil pipeline and a reduction of restrictions on coal ash produced by power plants.
Democrats gave up on $1.4 billion for conservation and agreed to allow states more authority in the use of money previously required to be used for landscaping, bike-path improvements and pedestrian walkways.
The bill was passed by the House and Senate one day before a June 30 deadline when federal highway funding was due to expire.
Shaheen said New Hampshire will receive $160 million for highway programs, a $10 million increase from the current level; and $14 million for public transportation programs, a $3 million increase.
She said the Senate bill had called for a highway funding increase of about $20 million for the state.
She said the final bill also contains a provision to allow the state to use air quality funding for the Boston Express bus service and the Downeaster rail service.
Federal funding will also continue for recreational trails, administered by the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, Shaheen said.
Shaheen said the source of most of the funding is from the Highway Trust Fund, with other money from underground storage tank funds and other “smaller sources.”
New Hampshire Department of Transportation federal liaison Mark Sanborn said when the department bonded $115 million for Interstate 93, “we did that at a little risk, quite frankly, given that the reauthorization hadn't yet passed.
“Today's action really secures our ability to pay back those bonds as we move forward,” Sanborn said. “It's great news because in the short term, it will create jobs for the project itself and in the long term, it is the backbone of the New Hampshire economy.
“This will allow us to efficiently and quickly to move forward with the next phase of the project, completing it from the Massachusetts border up to Exit 3,” said Sanborn. “We kind of took a leap of faith in moving forward with the bonding, and that faith was justified by today's action in Congress.”
He said the bill also allows the improvement of interchanges at exits 1, 2, 3 and 5.
Remaining will be the widening from Exit 3 to the interstates 93 and 293 split in Manchester and the construction of Exit 4A.
“We are looking very hard to identify funding” for that part of the project, Sanborn said.
Sanborn said funding from the bill will also allow state officials to revisit projects that were placed on the state's 10-year highway plan deferred list.
“What passed today is a larger apportionment than we budgeted for in the planning of the 10-year highway plan,” Sanborn said.
“We will be looking at the $250 million remaining for I-93 as well as red list bridges and other important highway-bridge projects throughout the state,” Sanborn said.
Shaheen said a key drawback in the bill provision will make it more difficult for small states to qualify for TIGER grants, the type that recently brought $120 million for the New Hampshire-Maine interstate bridge project.
According to the Washington Post, the transportation bill relies on transfers of almost $5 billion from the general fund; almost $3.7 billion from a fund to fix leaking underground storage tanks; almost $700 million from the gas guzzler tax, which targets new cars with poor fuel economy; and $4.5 billion from tariffs on imported vehicles.
The federal gas tax, 18.4 cents per gallon, funded the interstate system and contributes almost $40 billion toward current highway and transit projects. But that revenue has been bolstered in recent years by $34.5 billion from general tax funds, the Post reported.
Ayotte said the bill “once again requires a taxpayer-funded bailout of the highway trust fund to finance highway projects for the next two years, but takes 10 years to offset much of that spending — and even then leaves nearly $5 billion unpaid after accounting gimmicks are removed. That kind of reckless borrowing is what has brought us to the brink of a fiscal crisis. We need a highway bill that addresses justifiable needs within our transportation system without continuing our country on a path to bankruptcy.”
According to Ayotte, the legislation “transfers $21.2 billion in taxpayer dollars to cover a shortfall in the highway trust fund for the next 27 months, but only pays for $2.6 billion of that transfer during the authorization period, leaving another $18.6 billion to be paid off in future years.
“Astonishingly, the bill doesn't come close to paying for the transfer within the 10-year budget window, leaving nearly $5 billion unpaid,” she said in a statement.
But Guinta, who serves on the House Transportation Committee, said, “This bill provides certainty for job creators, the construction industry, and state and local governments for the next two years. It also clears the way for the creation of much-needed new jobs, and means work won't stop on existing transportation projects.”
He said he was “grateful” that the bill “includes provisions I authored to increase efficiency and lower costs in transportation project design by using three-dimensional technology, and to root out fraud in the trucking industry.
“This bill's passage shows what we can accomplish when both parties and both chambers work together for the common good,” Guinta said.
Bass said, “I'm glad that the House and Senate have finally come to an agreement to ensure vital highway programs and the student loan interest rate remains intact. For too long, both bills have been subject to political posturing on both sides of the aisle.
“Today we have a bipartisan plan in place to ensure highway projects across the country, including many in New Hampshire, such as the I-93 widening from Salem to Manchester and the rehabilitation project on I-89 between exits 15 and 17, can move forward. This two-year extension will give states and local communities the certainty and stability they need to plan construction projects, a win for our economy and the safety of our roadways.”
Regarding the student loan provision, Bass said, “In this tough economy, the last thing we should do is allow student loan interest rates to rise and burden families with higher debt.”
But Ayotte said, “I repeatedly expressed support for a fiscally responsible solution that allows a temporary extension of the current rates for new subsidized Stafford loans. Unfortunately, this issue was wrapped up in a fiscally irresponsible bill.”
Shaheen said the bill also reauthorized the federal flood insurance program, which Shaheen said is important to many Granite Staters.
jdistaso@unionleader.com
Several months ago, the state bonded $115 million for the massive project and took a “leap of faith” that federal funds would be there to pay it back. The bill that passed Friday delivers those funds.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, said she was “thrilled” the bill passed, even though New Hampshire will receive $10 million less than under the final compromise version than it would have received had the Senate version passed.
“It means we have some certainty in funding for our state Department of Transportation, the local communities and businesses that depend on those transportation dollars to keep people working and get projects done so that they can continue to put people back to work,” Shaheen said.
“For the lower part of Interstate 93, it means certainty, it means the project is going forward,” she said.
While Democrat Shaheen and the state's two Republican House members, Frank Guinta and Charles Bass, voted for the bill, Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte was one of only 19 senators to oppose it. The House vote was 373-52, while the Senate passed it, 74-19.
Ayotte said that while Interstate 93 is a worthy project, the bill “continues Washington's addiction to irresponsible borrowing” and is “yet another 'buy now, pay later' scheme that fails to fundamentally reform how we pay for highway projects.”
The votes came after congressional leaders reached rare bipartisan agreement Wednesday on a package that will spend $120 billion through Sept. 30, 2014.
Packaged with the transportation bill was a provision preventing a doubling to 6.8 percent of Stafford student loan interest rates for 7 million college undergraduates.
Shaheen called that “especially good news for us in New Hampshire, where we have the highest average student loan debt in the country.”
The transportation measure has been touted by both political parties as the biggest jobs bill of the year. In reaching agreement, Republicans dropped their demand to attach to the bill approval for the Keystone oil pipeline and a reduction of restrictions on coal ash produced by power plants.
Democrats gave up on $1.4 billion for conservation and agreed to allow states more authority in the use of money previously required to be used for landscaping, bike-path improvements and pedestrian walkways.
The bill was passed by the House and Senate one day before a June 30 deadline when federal highway funding was due to expire.
Shaheen said New Hampshire will receive $160 million for highway programs, a $10 million increase from the current level; and $14 million for public transportation programs, a $3 million increase.
She said the Senate bill had called for a highway funding increase of about $20 million for the state.
She said the final bill also contains a provision to allow the state to use air quality funding for the Boston Express bus service and the Downeaster rail service.
Federal funding will also continue for recreational trails, administered by the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, Shaheen said.
Shaheen said the source of most of the funding is from the Highway Trust Fund, with other money from underground storage tank funds and other “smaller sources.”
New Hampshire Department of Transportation federal liaison Mark Sanborn said when the department bonded $115 million for Interstate 93, “we did that at a little risk, quite frankly, given that the reauthorization hadn't yet passed.
“Today's action really secures our ability to pay back those bonds as we move forward,” Sanborn said. “It's great news because in the short term, it will create jobs for the project itself and in the long term, it is the backbone of the New Hampshire economy.
“This will allow us to efficiently and quickly to move forward with the next phase of the project, completing it from the Massachusetts border up to Exit 3,” said Sanborn. “We kind of took a leap of faith in moving forward with the bonding, and that faith was justified by today's action in Congress.”
He said the bill also allows the improvement of interchanges at exits 1, 2, 3 and 5.
Remaining will be the widening from Exit 3 to the interstates 93 and 293 split in Manchester and the construction of Exit 4A.
“We are looking very hard to identify funding” for that part of the project, Sanborn said.
Sanborn said funding from the bill will also allow state officials to revisit projects that were placed on the state's 10-year highway plan deferred list.
“What passed today is a larger apportionment than we budgeted for in the planning of the 10-year highway plan,” Sanborn said.
“We will be looking at the $250 million remaining for I-93 as well as red list bridges and other important highway-bridge projects throughout the state,” Sanborn said.
Shaheen said a key drawback in the bill provision will make it more difficult for small states to qualify for TIGER grants, the type that recently brought $120 million for the New Hampshire-Maine interstate bridge project.
According to the Washington Post, the transportation bill relies on transfers of almost $5 billion from the general fund; almost $3.7 billion from a fund to fix leaking underground storage tanks; almost $700 million from the gas guzzler tax, which targets new cars with poor fuel economy; and $4.5 billion from tariffs on imported vehicles.
The federal gas tax, 18.4 cents per gallon, funded the interstate system and contributes almost $40 billion toward current highway and transit projects. But that revenue has been bolstered in recent years by $34.5 billion from general tax funds, the Post reported.
Ayotte said the bill “once again requires a taxpayer-funded bailout of the highway trust fund to finance highway projects for the next two years, but takes 10 years to offset much of that spending — and even then leaves nearly $5 billion unpaid after accounting gimmicks are removed. That kind of reckless borrowing is what has brought us to the brink of a fiscal crisis. We need a highway bill that addresses justifiable needs within our transportation system without continuing our country on a path to bankruptcy.”
According to Ayotte, the legislation “transfers $21.2 billion in taxpayer dollars to cover a shortfall in the highway trust fund for the next 27 months, but only pays for $2.6 billion of that transfer during the authorization period, leaving another $18.6 billion to be paid off in future years.
“Astonishingly, the bill doesn't come close to paying for the transfer within the 10-year budget window, leaving nearly $5 billion unpaid,” she said in a statement.
But Guinta, who serves on the House Transportation Committee, said, “This bill provides certainty for job creators, the construction industry, and state and local governments for the next two years. It also clears the way for the creation of much-needed new jobs, and means work won't stop on existing transportation projects.”
He said he was “grateful” that the bill “includes provisions I authored to increase efficiency and lower costs in transportation project design by using three-dimensional technology, and to root out fraud in the trucking industry.
“This bill's passage shows what we can accomplish when both parties and both chambers work together for the common good,” Guinta said.
Bass said, “I'm glad that the House and Senate have finally come to an agreement to ensure vital highway programs and the student loan interest rate remains intact. For too long, both bills have been subject to political posturing on both sides of the aisle.
“Today we have a bipartisan plan in place to ensure highway projects across the country, including many in New Hampshire, such as the I-93 widening from Salem to Manchester and the rehabilitation project on I-89 between exits 15 and 17, can move forward. This two-year extension will give states and local communities the certainty and stability they need to plan construction projects, a win for our economy and the safety of our roadways.”
Regarding the student loan provision, Bass said, “In this tough economy, the last thing we should do is allow student loan interest rates to rise and burden families with higher debt.”
But Ayotte said, “I repeatedly expressed support for a fiscally responsible solution that allows a temporary extension of the current rates for new subsidized Stafford loans. Unfortunately, this issue was wrapped up in a fiscally irresponsible bill.”
Shaheen said the bill also reauthorized the federal flood insurance program, which Shaheen said is important to many Granite Staters.
jdistaso@unionleader.com