Hello all,
The state legislature introduced its budget bills on Monday with the possibility of a vote as early as Wednesday. All indications are that there are currently not enough votes for passage so more negotiating/amending is likely. $338M in one-time funding for transportation infrastructure is included in the capital outlay budget bill (HB2892, SB1820). $50 million to expand I-10 from Casa Grande to Phoenix was added to the earlier list of projects. Also, the bill language specifies which highways & their location by county will receive ADOT pavement rehabilitation projects. The budget spreadsheet that was released last week just provided the total of $109M for statewide preservation. The rehab project locations and costs are provided on the second page of the attached summary of all the one-time transportation funding and includes all counties but Maricopa, Pima and Santa Cruz.
LEGISLATIVE ALERT: There is reportedly an effort from some legislators to reduce the amount of pavement rehabilitation funding in the budget.
Please contact your legislators and urge them not to reduce the transportation funding levels currently in the capital outlay budget bill. A copy of a letter sent from RTAC to legislators articulating the levels of under-investment and the condition of the highways is attached for your reference.
Also, in Washington, the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee released their draft highway portion of the federal transportation reauthorization bill on Saturday. The committee is scheduled to consider amendments and vote out the highway language on Wednesday. The draft would authorize $303.5 billion in highway funding over the next five years, a 34% increase over the previous authorization levels. The bill also distributes 90% of the funding through formula, increases safety funding, and was introduced with bipartisan support. Please convey to Senators Kelly & Sinema that the bill is a great starting point for the deliberations. Reauthorization is needed by the end of September. Senator Kelly serves on the committee.
