Statement of
Paul
E. Patton
Governor
of Kentucky
and
Chairman
of the National Governors Association
Before the
Subcommittee
on Highways, Transit and Pipelines
U.S. House of Representatives
on
Highway and Transit Needs:
The State and Local Perspective
on behalf of the
National Governors Association
Good morning. Chairman Petri, Ranking Member Lipinski, and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today as Chairman of the National Governors Association to discuss what I believe is one of the most critical decisions facing the 108th Congress: the reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Act.
In my view, our country currently faces a transportation crisis, a crisis precipitated by decades of under investment in transportation infrastructure. In many ways this crisis is a silent one; rarely recognized by our constituents until they find themselves in an unbearable commute to work; or unable to make the necessary connections between home, work, and the myriad of other activities that their busy lives demand; or even worse, involved in one of the 42,000 fatal crashes that occur every year on our nation’s highways.
Our
nation’s highways and transit systems are the very lifelines of our national
economy and way of life. And they are
the legacy of those who have come before us.
After World War II, President Eisenhower realized that our expanding
economy and world leadership position demanded that we make a major commitment
to transportation infrastructure. The
result of his vision was our greatest public works accomplishment of the 20th
Century — our nation’s interstate highway system. We need that same kind of vision and leadership today. We now have the opportunity to build on this
legacy by ensuring that our country’s future transportation system meets the
demands and needs of an even stronger economy and a more dominant position of
world leadership.
Transportation
is one of my passions partly because I’m an engineer, but also because I’m a
life-long resident of Appalachian Kentucky, a region of our nation that seemed
to be destined to a life of poverty because it had been by-passed by the
interstate highway system, by-passed until the federal government provided us
with a lifeline called the Appalachian Regional Developmental Highway
Program. Since becoming Governor of
Kentucky in 1995, I’ve been dedicated to improving the efficiency and safety of
Kentucky’s highway system. I’ve made it
my priority to be personally involved to ensure that our transportation funds
are spent efficiently and wisely. I
know first hand the devastating effects not having a good transportation system
has on a community.
Growing up in Appalachian Kentucky, I witnessed
friends and families being deprived of the education, economic status, and
quality of life enjoyed by the rest of the nation, in large part, just because
they didn’t have the necessary transportation infrastructure. In fact it will take us in Appalachia
twenty, thirty, or even forty years to overcome the 75-year decline this region
experienced due, in part, to the lack of an effective transportation
system. I’ve made transportation a
priority because I understand how critical it is to Kentucky’s future. I think almost every other Governor feels
the same way about their respective states.
Transportation
infrastructure is the engine that powers our economy. Investments in surface transportation and highway projects
provide greater returns than any other area of government spending. In fact, for every $1 billion of
federal highway investment, 42,000 jobs are generated. The transportation industry accounts for 11
percent of the nation’s economic activity and for one out of every five dollars
of total household spending.
During
the 1997 reauthorization process, Governor Ed Schafer and I were the lead
Governors as the NGA teamed up with several other interested groups to form the
Transportation Revenues Used Solely for Transportation (TRUST) Coalition. The 1997 reauthorization resulted in the most
comprehensive highway spending bill ever enacted by Congress, the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). TEA-21 created a “guarantee” that tax
revenues collected in the Highway Trust Fund would be used solely for
transportation improvements. This has
resulted in an increased investment in surface transportation of nearly 40
percent. This increase has not only
provided a stimulus to our nation’s economy, it has also provided much of the
critical infrastructure needed for economic growth to occur. But, unfortunately, it has not been enough
to keep up with the demand.
As
we go through the TEA-21 reauthorization process, we must keep in mind that
even at our current level of investment our transportation infrastructure is
not adequate to meet the economic, safety, and convenience needs of our
society. Our nation certainly can’t
afford for us to reduce our current commitments to transportation
infrastructure.
As
Governors, we daily face the challenges of a 50-year-old highway system that’s
tired, overused, and having an extremely difficult time serving citizens who
have become dependent on it. In fact,
highways have become a necessity to survive both economically and socially. Americans have become so dependent on
highways that on the rare occasion when natural or man-made disasters cause a
highway to close, the communities that depend on it virtually shut down. When the original architects of the
interstate program designed our current highway system, they never envisioned
what we have today. They couldn’t see
that our highways would become rolling warehouses with just-in-time delivery,
moving 11 billion tons of freight annually. They couldn’t begin to dream that our society would become so
dependent on the automobile that owning a car would become as big of a
necessity as owning a home, and they could not have envisioned a country of
two-car, three- and even four-car families.
Our
current system was designed for only 15 percent truck traffic and a few
thousand cars a day. Today our highways
carry anywhere from 40 to 80 percent truck traffic. In fact, between 1990 and 2000, travel on America’s highways
increased 28 percent. During this same
time period, America’s population grew by 13 percent while lane mileage
increased less than 2 percent.
Driving in this country has increased at a rate 14 times greater than
road capacity. And even more astounding
is the fact that it’s estimated that both truck and passenger traffic will
double within the next 25 years. Even
at our current funding levels, our transportation system is not keeping pace
with the demand.
Nowhere is this crisis more evident than in Kentucky. Our state’s goal is to provide a transportation system that provides both economic growth and enhances the quality of life in Kentucky. In order to accomplish this goal we must:
· use all the intelligent transportation technologies that are available;
· add additional highway capacity;
· address our aging bridge system by replacing bridges that are over 50 years old;
· increase travel efficiencies by reducing travel costs for consumers and businesses; and
· invest in transportation in ways that put more money back into the pockets of businesses who, in turn, will reinvest in America.
Kentucky is facing some serious challenges in meeting our country’s interstate travel needs. Because of our central location, our state serves as a major connection point for the nation. Five major interstates flow through our state — I-24, I-64, I-65, I-71, and I-75. These interstates were not designed to handle the amount of traffic we are experiencing today. While we are in the process of reconstructing these major transportation arteries, our nation has needs for even more interstate capacity through Kentucky to Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Our two Ohio River bridge interstate projects will help to fix a critical bottleneck interchange in Louisville, but we are in desperate need for another interstate bridge crossing to Cincinnati for I-75. We also need to provide a much-needed East-West interstate linkage through Kentucky for Appalachia and the Mississippi River Delta by constructing I-66, which will provide critical economic opportunities to areas plagued by poor transportation and poverty. Additionally, it is imperative that we build I-69, which will serve as a critical juncture between our Southwest Region and Mexico and our Northeastern Region and Eastern Canada, a link necessary to accommodate the increased traffic being generated by NAFTA. Responsible federal investment in these critical interstate projects will allow us to continue to open up every sector of the Commonwealth to the economic opportunity we need to succeed in the global economy.
The
U.S. Department of Transportation recently released their 2002 Conditions and
Performance Report for Highways and Transit.
This report identified that an annual investment of $75.9 billion for highways and bridges
and $14.8 billion for transit is
needed to maintain the physical condition and performance of those
systems. In 2000, the combined federal,
state, and local investment in highway and bridge capital was less than
$65 billion — $11 billion
less than what the report stated was needed just to maintain current conditions,
much less improve them. Additionally,
transit spending needs to increase 64 percent above current levels if we
are to provide the same level of service to those who depend on transit for
their daily mobility.
By
most measures, Governors agree that TEA-21 was a success, but we have so much
further to go. Governors know first
hand that our aging interstate system is letting the people of this country
down. We can ill afford to inadequately
invest in our transportation infrastructure and cause our hard-earned progress
to fall further behind. With a strong
federal investment and responsible growth in revenues in this reauthorization
cycle, we can continue to plan ahead with projects that will pave the way for
economic opportunity. Simply stated,
more money must be invested in transportation.
To do otherwise will hinder our economic recovery.
The
nation’s Governors look forward to working closely with you, our coalition
colleagues, and the Administration to secure another reauthorization of the
nation’s surface transportation legislation in a fashion which will ensure that
we not lose any of the ground that was won nearly six years ago.
NGA
has taken the first step in this process.
The Governors have approved a new policy that outlines our position in
the reauthorization process. We
strongly believe that TEA-21 created an important framework and precedent that
must be continued and built on in the next federal reauthorization bill. TEA-21 significantly increased investment in
our nation’s transportation system and made considerable progress towards our
goal of having a transportation system adequate to meet our transportation
needs. The Governors believe this trend
must be continued and strongly oppose any efforts to reduce program levels.
The Governors also concur
that the current program structure, which features state and local planning and
decision-making, flexibility, guaranteed funding levels for highways and
transit, and an intermodal approach is working well and should be
retained. We firmly believe that the
federal transportation program is most effective when states retain maximum
flexibility in order to meet the unique needs of their transportation
systems. Additional funding categories,
mandates and set-asides, while often noble in their goals, reduce states’
abilities to respond to their particular needs and priorities.
Governors
will continue to support the guarantee that all highway user fees deposited
into the Highway Trust Fund are invested in the federal highway and transit
programs. This policy has provided
states with improved funding stability and has allowed us to do a much better
job of planning and managing our long-term capital investments.
The Governors also support a revised RABA mechanism
that will provide accurate, predictable funding levels; maximum, timely
distribution of trust fund balances to the states; and avoid reductions in
funding levels set in the authorizing legislation. One feature of a revised RABA should be a program to reduce the
Highway Account balance in a systematic way and ensure that it is not allowed
to build up again.
As I
mentioned earlier, we’re experiencing a transportation crisis because the
investment levels in surface transportation haven’t kept pace with the growing
transportation needs of our country.
It’s time for us to face this silent crisis head-on by supporting a
permanent extension of the Highway Trust Fund.
Governors support growth in Highway Trust Fund revenues and an increased
federal funding commitment to transportation that will enable states to
maintain a safe, secure, and reliable highway and transit system.
As
Governors, we also recognize that public transit plays a significant role in
state and national efforts to mitigate traffic congestion, conserve fuel,
enhance the efficiency of highway transportation, address air quality issues,
and support security and emergency preparedness activities at regional and
local levels. As such, among other
things, Governors support maintaining the continued growth of guaranteed and
predictable federal funding for transit investments.
Governors are pleased that the TEA-21 reauthorization debate has officially begun. There are a number of reauthorization proposals floating around, and this number will continue to grow in the coming months as the debate heats up. While the outcome of this critical debate is far from certain, what is certain is the commitment of many members of Congress to our nation’s transportation system and the integral role it plays in stimulating the economy. We are very grateful to you and applaud your efforts to reauthorize TEA-21 this year.
While
Governors may be the elected leaders of the states, we must rely heavily on our
partners in Congress during the reauthorization process. Your actions are vital to our country’s
economic prosperity and we look forward to working with you throughout the year
to ensure that decisions being made allow us to provide the citizens of this
nation with the transportation system they deserve: a system that will usher in a new era of economic prosperity; a
system that will provide Americans more time with their friends and families
due to decreased traffic congestion; and a system that will allow them to
travel in a much safer manner.
On behalf of the nation’s Governors, I look forward to working with the Congress and express our appreciation for your hard work and your eventual success in this process. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.