Highway bill gridlock may add to road woes in Fla.

WASHINGTON – The federal Highway Trust Fund is on the cusp of insolvency, with a cash shortage looming before the end of July. Despite the deadline, lawmakers are at an impasse over how to replenish an account that funds the nation’s highway projects.

Without a breakthrough, the political gridlock in Washington could quickly translate into worse traffic gridlock in Florida and push up the price tag for key projects around the state. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is warning states would, on average, see a 28 percent reduction in federal dollars to cover the costs of current needs.

There is broad bipartisan desire for a long-term solution to refilling the trust fund, which also pays for transit programs. And there are a bevy of ideas — some silly, many serious — for fixing the problem.

But prospects of any long-term plan passing both the GOP-held House and Democratic Senate are slim, meaning the best hope is crafting a quick fix that will punt any tough decisions until after the November elections.

Transportation spending “used to be bipartisan,” Vice President Joe Biden told a group of government and business leaders Wednesday. “Since when did it become a bad investment? Since when did it become something we view as big government?”

Although it’s been clear for years that the highway fund faces a systemic shortfall, Congress has dealt with that by passing 10 mini-fixes over the past nine years – and raiding $54 billion from general revenues to help cover the tab. No one expects this time to be any different.

And many lawmakers representing Florida on Capitol Hill have already made it clear they won’t support legislation, some of it bipartisan, to raise the federal gas tax, which has stood at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. The Sunshine State’s two senators — Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio — are endorsing other solutions to make up the shortfall.

Florida is in better shape than most states. For now.

Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, also opposes a gas tax hike.

“We must restore funding certainty to Florida’s transportation and construction communities, but not on the backs of North and Northwest Florida taxpayers,” said Southerland.

His opponent in the November election, Democrat Gwen Graham, said Congress should be working harder to find a long-term solution, such as a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that would help states finance projects using federal seed money.

“Better roads and bridges mean more jobs and more business for North Florida, but it will take new leadership to break the current cycle of short term solutions,” she said.

Only about one-quarter of the state’s road-building program is supported by federal dollars. And the Florida Department of Transportation has gradually been increasing the amount in the state trust fund to brace for such an occasion.

“If we don’t get reimbursed (by the federal government) in a timely fashion, then we can still continue to pay our bills to contractors,” state Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad explained in a statement released by his office. “We could survive an insolvent Federal Highway Trust Fund for three to six months without any negative impact. However, beyond that point there will be a tangible impact that can’t be avoided.”

It’s difficult to pinpoint which projects in the state would get delayed if the trust fund becomes insolvent. State officials say no list has been drawn up at this point.

But Prasad said projects designed to improve safety and preservation would be protected from cuts first, followed by those being constructed through a public-private partnership.

“Then we’ll start looking at projects that could be deferred and projects that are based on other things that are happening in a region that we don’t want to negatively affect,” he said.

As a general rule, projects already under construction stand a better chance of receiving money than those still in the planning or permitting stages.

Nelson’s solution is one that Democrats have been pushing in recent years with little success.

“Sen. Nelson would like to end the federal subsidies we’re giving to major oil companies rather than see motorists pay higher taxes at the pump,” spokesman Ryan Brown said. Graham also endorses that proposal.

Rubio has co-sponsored a bill that would transfer almost all authority over federal highway and transit programs to the states over a five-year period. It would gradually lower the federal gas tax to 3.7 cents and provide states “block grants” of transportation funding that would have “vastly fewer federal strings attached.” But that has little chance of passage either.

There seems to be as many proposals for how to shore up the trust fund — in the short run and the long term — as there are lawmakers in Congress.

Raise the gas tax — or make it automatically increase with inflation. Impose a new tax on tires, or a surcharge on driver’s licenses. Nix subsidies for Amtrak — or for the oil and gas industry. House Republicans recently suggested canceling Saturday mail delivery to boost the trust fund.

“There as so many options to pay for this,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. But neither party wants to make the necessary trade-offs for a deal, she said.