This report provides a historical perspective on contemporary federalism issues in surface transportation policy that are likely to be addressed by Congress during the 111th Congress, including possible devolution of programmatic responsibility to states and proposals to change state maintenance-of-effort requirements and state cost matching requirements.
It was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on the Budget, and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines. [...] Congressional Research Service 7 Federalism Issues in Surface Transportation Policy: Past and Present At that time, AAA advocated the creation of a federal highway commission to design and oversee the construction of a proposed 50,000-mile federal highway system.27 AASHO advocated the continuation of the reliance on states to design and oversee program operations and the use of the grant device to [...] Now, the prevailing view was that highways that were interstate in character and expedited the completion of an "adequate and connected system of highways" were also eligible for federal assistance because of their connection to Congressional authority to regulate interstate commerce and promote the general welfare.33 Indicative of the expansion of the program's scope, the program's title was chan [...] Expanding the Federal Role: The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944 During subsequent reauthorizations of the Federal Highway Act AASHO and the American Municipal Association and its constituent state leagues of municipalities lobbied Congress to increase federal funding and to expand program eligibility to include secondary and urban highways.34 They argued that all roads were interconnected, forming [...] The Interstate Highway System Redefines Federalism Relationships in Surface Transportation Policy: The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 The $25 billion, 13-year Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 authorized the construction of the then-41,000 mile National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, with a 1972 target completion date.
Since the early 1980s, the periodic debate over the reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs has been primarily about money and its distribution. In each of the five reauthorizations that took place during that period, the federal fuel taxes and other sources of revenue dedicated to the highway trust were reliably providing the various surface transportation programs with more money year after year. In 2009, this was not the case. For the first time in decades, driving declined significantly, with a concomitant decrease in fuel tax revenues. Going forward the program cannot count on new money from the familiar sources. The law authorising federal surface transportation programs expired at the end of 2009, but Congress has failed to enact a new authorisation. This book examines the surface transportation program reauthorization issues for the 112th Congress; funding and finance; the Donor-Donee State issue of funding equity and federalism issues in surface transportation policy.
The nation has reached a critical juncture with its current surface transport. (CST) policies and programs. Demand has outpaced the capacity of the system, resulting in increased congestion. In addition, without significant changes in funding levels or planned spending, the Highway Trust Fund -- the major source of fed. highway and transit funding -- is projected to incur significant deficits in the years ahead. This testimony discusses: (1) recent findings on the structure and performance of the CST program; (2) a framework to assess proposals for restructuring of the CST program; (3) potential options to fund invest. in the CST system; and (4) recent findings on the benefits, costs, and trade-offs of using public-private partnerships to help fund transport. invest. Ill.
Policy proposals from members of Congress to reform the nation's surface transportation programs : hearing before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, first session, April 5, 2011.
