Vermont Public is independent, community-supported media, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information. We share stories that bring people together, from every corner of our region. New to Vermont Public? Start here.

© 2024 Vermont Public | 365 Troy Ave. Colchester, VT 05446

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ · WVTX
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVER
WVER-FM · WVLR-FM · WBTN-FM

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Vermont Legislature
Follow VPR's statehouse coverage, featuring Pete Hirschfeld and Bob Kinzel in our Statehouse Bureau in Montpelier.

State Officials Growing Concerned About Long-Term Federal Transportation Funding

Wilson Ring
/
AP File
Vermont Transportation Secretary Sue Minter, pictured here in 2013, says if Congress fails to pass a transportation bill by the end of July, Vermont's federal funds will be put on hold and they will borrow the money from the state's cash flow account.

State officials are growing concerned that Congress won't pass a long-term federal transportation bill this year. They’ve developed a contingency plan to ensure that road and bridge construction projects in Vermont stay on schedule this summer. 

There's good news and bad news coming out of Congress this week about the bill. Here's the good news. On Wednesday, the Senate Public Works committee gave its unanimous support to a plan to allocate $278 billion over the next six years to fund transportation projects.

Vermont Transportation Secretary Sue Minter says Vermont would receive $1.3 billion under this legislation. "That means that we would be able to keep relatively level funding from what we've had over the past three or four years from the federal government, which is great news," she says.

Here's the bad news. The bill now goes to the Senate Finance committee, and there's no agreement about how to pay for the long-term plan.

Minter says the state spends roughly $6 million of federal money every week on road and bridge projects. If Congress fails to pass a transportation bill by the end of July, Minter says these federal funds will be put on hold. She wants these projects to stay on schedule, so her agency will borrow the money from the state's cash flow account.

"We know that we can carry that forward having the state treasury pay those which would otherwise be federal dollars for a short term,” she says. “I think if that went on for a number of months we'd have to think about other scenarios." 

"It means that we're all doing short-term thinking, and what we need to be doing isn't just limping forward and duct taping our system back together. We need to be thinking big about the future." - Transportation Secretary Sue Minter

The last time Congress approved a long-term transportation bill was in 2005. Since that time, 33 short-term extensions have been passed. Minter says these short term fixes are bad for public policy. “It means that we're all doing short-term thinking, and what we need to be doing isn't just limping forward and duct taping our system back together. We need to be thinking big about the future. We need an infrastructure for the 21st century,” she says.

Minter says efforts to raise the federal gas tax have become very controversial in Congress. This tax has not been increased since 1995 and revenues from the 18-cent per-gallon tax no longer supply the Federal Highway Trust Fund with enough money to meet the transportation demands of all 50 states.

Bob Kinzel has been covering the Vermont Statehouse since 1981 — longer than any continuously serving member of the Legislature. With his wealth of institutional knowledge, he answers your questions on our series, "Ask Bob."
Latest Stories