Tag: transportation funding: Page 42

Roadbuilding

Sanders says his $1 trillion infrastructure bill would cost less than Iraq War

Sen. Bernie Sanders says his 5-year $1 trillion infrastructure bill would cost less than the estimated cost of the “Bush/Cheney Iraq War”, according to a report from The Hill. In a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, the independent senator from Vermont said estimates of the total cost of the war “will total $3 […]

February 10, 2015

Roadbuilding

Texas DOT saves nearly $1 billion over next decade through historic bond deal

The Texas Department of Transportation recently announced that it had achieved the largest savings on a single bond deal in the state’s history through a $1.68 billion refinancing that priced Jan. 21. The bond issue refinanced almost all of the outstanding debt for the Central Texas Turnpike System (CTTS), first issued in 2002. The deal […]

February 9, 2015

Roadbuilding

Missouri approves budget-reduced road and bridge construction plan

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has approved the Missouri Department of Transportation’s “325 System” plan, which will focus on maintenance rather than new construction for less than 25% of the states roads. The plan’s name comes from the figure MoDOT will have for construction in 2017—$325 million. Two years from now, the state will no longer […]

February 9, 2015

Roadbuilding

Obama proposes 6-year, $478 billion highway bill; industry groups voice support

As part of his new, $3.99 trillion budget released Monday, President Barack Obama has proposed $478 billion to fund the country’s transportation and infrastructure work over the next six years. Instead of raising the federal gas tax, Obama’s proposal would be paid for with money generated by a one-time tax holiday for companies with overseas investments. […]

February 2, 2015

Roadbuilding

Tolls impede the American spirit of the open road

Jack Kerouac would weep, were he alive today. The author famous for making road trips a rite of passage would be shocked to find how tolls, tickets and traffic fines are being used as revenue enhancement schemes and an extension of the American surveillance state. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Drug Enforcement Administration […]

February 1, 2015

Roadbuilding

Sens. Paul and Boxer reach across the aisle, propose corporate tax holiday to boost infrastructure funding

Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) have proposed a corporate tax holiday to fund U.S. infrastructure projects. The proposal would give businesses a reprieve from penalties for avoiding prior taxes if they agree to move money back to the U.S. and pay a 6.5 percent rate on it. The money collected would then […]

February 1, 2015

Roadbuilding

Astec’s Ben Brock: “Best shot we’ve had in 10 years” to get out of highway funding dead end

All the talk about the upcoming highway bill reauthorization—now in an extension until May—had a familiar ring to Ben Brock, president and CEO, Astec Industries. “I’ve been around this industry all of my life and I was starting to hear the same stories,” he told me during a break at the National Asphalt Pavement Association […]

January 30, 2015

Business

Vermont Senator introduces $1 trillion infrastructure spending bill

A U.S. senator from Vermont has filed a bill that would designate $1 trillion over the next five years to transportation and infrastructure spending, according to a report from The Hill. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders calls his bill the “Rebuild America Act,” noting in an op-ed piece also published by The Hill that, “a $1 trillion investment […]

January 28, 2015

Business

U.S. Chamber of Congress, AAA and ATA urge Congress to raise gas tax to fund long-term highway bill

With the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) inching ever so closer to insolvency, organizations are redoubling efforts to ensure Congress is passes a permanent fix, rather than a patch. AAA, the American Trucking Associations, and the U.S Chamber of Commerce submitted a joint letter to Congress Jan. 26 urging members of the 114th Congress to raise […]

January 27, 2015

Business

Obama urges Congress to focus on improving infrastructure rather than Keystone XL in State of the Union

President Barack Obama in his sixth State of the Union address made little mention of issues related directly to construction and transportation, which has in years past come in the form of the president pushing Congress to do more to fund highways and other transportation infrastructure. Unlike recent years, however, the president only briefly addressed transportation infrastructure […]

January 21, 2015

Roadbuilding

Nancy Pelosi says it’s time to raise the gas tax

More and more members of Congress are starting to support an increase to the gasoline tax which pays for the America’s transportation infrastructure. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also has said her political party cannot rule out any Highway Trust Fund proposals being made by Republicans. “I can’t respond to their proposal because I don’t know […]

January 9, 2015

Roadbuilding

Boxer tells GOP to focus on Highway Trust Fund, not Keystone

It’s clear that one of Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) top priorities is to fix the Highway Trust Fund before it runs out of funding in May. However, not everyone agrees that it should be Congress’ main focus. A lot of Republicans have made the Keystone XL pipeline their top priority, and Boxer doesn’t understand why. “It is a […]

January 8, 2015