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Rep. Nancy Boyda and Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller: Highway Funding 'A Crisis Waiting to Happen'

TOPEKA, KS – Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District), speaking at a news conference today with Kansas Transportation Secretary Deb Miller, decried the failure of Congress last week to address a significant shortfall in the federal Highway Trust Fund.

In a Kansas Department of Transportation press release issued last week, the situation was described as a “looming transportation funding crisis facing both Kansas and the nation.”

Legislation that would have allowed the transfer of $8 billion from the U.S. General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund would have at least provided a short term fix to the problem. However, on June 24, 2008, the U.S House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate stripped language from H.R. 6327 that would have permitted the transfer of funds.

Boyda said “I can’t tell you how frustrated I am by the situation. Congress should have seen this coming and taken action. We had a good, common sense fix that got caught up in politics. This provision would have simply reversed a transfer made from the Highway Fund to the Treasury Department in 1998. There would have been no additional cost to the taxpayer to shore up the Highway Fund and address the immediate shortfall. Instead, the provision was stripped away in order to ensure Senate passage of the FAA Reauthorization Bill.”

KDOT Secretary Deb Miller: “Failure to address the Highway Trust Fund shortfall will mean a cut of more than 30 percent – or about $120 million – in funding to Kansas. That will significantly impact our ability to complete the Comprehensive Transportation Program as scheduled. And, it will have a ripple effect on our ability to do other projects.”

“The transportation shortfall is very real,” added Boyda, “and there are additional concerns. We are working with an outdated policy. While Big Oil continues to receive billions of dollars in subsidies – at the expense of hardworking Kansans – the 18 cent gas user fee has not been changed in more than a decade. Meanwhile, construction costs have gone through the roof. This is a crisis waiting to happen not only for our highways, but for infrastructure overall.”

Boyda said “When I return to Washington, D.C. following the district work period, I plan to introduce legislation that will fix this disaster.”