- MikeWebkist / Foter / CC BY-NC
On Wednesday we learned details on funding for a beefed up transportation spending package proposed by Gov. Jack Markell.
In his State of the State of the State message, the governor proposed adding $500 million in transportation funding in coming years. The 10-cent-a-gallon increase matched with debt, while substantial, appears to be justified, given the poor health of the Transportation Trust Fund.
The increase would amount to $60 a year per vehicle, or about the cost of a cell phone bill for one phone.
On Wednesday, Markell and Secretary of Transportation Shailen P. Bhatt took the unusual step of outlining the proposal before the Thursday budget address. They were joined by a group of business and labor leaders who lent their support.
We are already hearing the usual arguments that center on state finances and household budgets being too fragile to absorb increases in fees and gasoline. It is true that we watch gas prices and feel the pain immediately when filling up. But the cost of everything has gone up while fuel tax revenues have remained stable or declined.
GOP legislators have proposed gradually moving operating expenses of DelDOT from the Trust Fund to the general fund, thereby avoiding a gas tax increase.
That would mean cuts of upwards of a quarter of a billion dollar over seven years might end hopes of income tax or gross receipts tax cuts. Perhaps a blend of the fuel tax and operating expenses transfer is a possibility.
Meanwhile, roads and bridges, like other areas of infrastructure are in bad shape after years of neglect by legislators afraid of a backlash from gas tax increases.
The federal gas tax has not been increased since in the 1990s, states scrambling to deal with deteriorating roads and bridges. That fear extends to Legislative Hall in Dover where legend has it that representatives and senators were turned out of office after voting for gas taxes.
Delaware has done a better job than neighboring Pennsylvania and New Jersey in maintaining its infrastructure, but faces big challenges in dealing with population growth and the quality of roads in Kent, Sussex and southern New Castle County.
Maryland, in some ways, has stayed ahead of Delaware and that may account for some wins in economic development over the years, despite that state’s high tax rate.
There is also a need to continue to look for ways to ease congestion in northern Delaware. The new Route 1 and Interstate 95 exit has been a success in easing congestion, but more needs to be done as 1 becomes increasingly contested.
Transit should also be part of the mix, although the DART and DAST systems have to continue to work to operate as efficiently as possible.
It won’t be easy to resist the easy road of simply saying no, but it is time for legislators to show some courage and do the right thing for the state and the overall economy.
