Debt ceiling bill could squeeze Iowa highway construction

The new chairwoman of the Iowa Transportation Commission is concerned the federal deficit reduction bill signed by the president Tuesday will mean less federal highway funding for the state and waylay needed projects.

Cedar Rapids lawyer Amy Reasner told The Gazette's editorial board Tuesday that it's likely the measure will reduce federal transportation assistance. She said most Americans aren't aware that Congress has subsidized highways and bridges beyond the funds collected in the Federal Highway Trust fund through the motor fuel tax, and that funding will almost certainly be reduced to cut the deficit.

Iowa's members of Congress have indicated that the state's federal highway funding could be reduced 25 to 30 percent in order to balance outflows with revenues, Reasner said.

"It seems very likely that our funding will not be what it has been in previous years," Reasner said.

The state has a backlog of 135 unfunded highway and bridge projects with needs totaling $5 billion, Reasner said. The projects most likely to be cut if federal funds are reduced will be new construction requested for economic development reasons or to expand capacity strained by growing traffic, she said.

The Highway 100 extension project that has been hotly pursued by local officials in Linn County is among those that could be in jeopardy unless additional transportation funding is approved or local government comes up with more matching funds, Reasner said when asked about it.

"If Congress makes the cuts they've been discussing it's unlikely there will be any new projects like that, including it," Reasner said.

The Mount Vernon-Lisbon bypass is another new construction project that could be in jeopardy unless new funding is found, Reasner indicated.

The five-year highway plan approved by the Iowa Transportation Commission this year was developed based on a cautious federal funding scenario because a new federal highway bill had not been approved, Reasner said. Commission members had to "red line" projects out of the five-year plan that had already been included when transportation funding was tight eight years ago, Reasner said, and they were not anxious to do it again.

Reasner said most commission members are supportive of the proposed extension of Amtrak rail service to Davenport and Iowa City from Chicago.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has put the brakes on the projects because of concerns it will cost the state ongoing subsidies.

Reasner said the commission has indicated to the governor that it is willing to look at reallocating funds from existing programs to help support the service.

Opponents of rail passenger service have tended to focus their objections on subsidies, Reasner said, but the government already subsidizes other forms of transportation.

"The debate should be about, "there's a subsidy and therefore we shouldn't do it," Reasner said. "The debate should about about the project's substantive merits."

A citizen's commission created by Branstad is studying possible ways of meeting the state's transportation funding shortfall. Reasner said she doesn't consider it the role of the Iowa Transportation Commission to make funding recommendations. As a private citizen, however, she said she clearly believes Iowa has a need to find sources of additional funding for transportation.