12/23/09-Gov. Bobby Jindal has a plan to inject millions of dollars into a dozen highway projects around Louisiana.
The governor wants to use $120 million available to the state to speed up planned road and bridge work that isn’t set to begin for a few more years. Revenue will be plucked from undesignated portions of state transportation money for such projects as $17 million for work on Interstate 49 in St. Landry Parish and $15 million on Interstate 55 in Tangipahoa.
The Jindal administration is targeting $40 million in unspent funds from the 2008 fiscal year, and another $40 million from the following year to help get work done.
The Louisiana Legislature must sign off on the second part of the plan. The 2010 regular session begins in March.
Another $40 million would come via “seed” money that had been pegged for other capital projects. In addition, the federal government will chip in during later years as they reimburse the state for part of the spending.
The governor is touting multiple benefits to the initiative, which includes creating jobs and improving infrastructure.
Jindal said the state can also take advantage of some lower prices for highway contracting work.
“This new cash flow plan also allows the state to take advantage of favorable prices and bids that have been consistently low over the past several months,” Jindal said in a statement.
William Ankner, secretary for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, has said the spending plan will allow the state to get some much-needed work done while talks continue on how to address long-term needs. Louisiana is coping with a $12.6 billion road and bridge backlog.

8/31/09-Despite its unpopularity with the public, one Louisiana state lawmaker says the most suitable solution to boost revenue for road and bridge maintenance might be an increase in the state’s fuel tax.
Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, told lawmakers gathered to discuss ways to finance highway needs, that allowing the state’s 20-cent-per-gallon fuel tax to increase with inflation could be the best option.
Downs is the chairman of a special study group made up of four legislative panels charged with coming up with money to pay for needed transportation work. Other options the study group will consider include toll roads and partnering with private groups.
The state’s tax on diesel and gas hasn’t increased in 25 years. Of the 20-cent tax, 16 cents is earmarked for the state’s general highway construction and maintenance programs with the rest paying for a special highway and bridge construction program.
Every penny of the tax amounts to about $30 million in revenue.
Officials with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development say that agency doesn’t get enough from the tax to keep up with demands. William Anker, secretary for the agency, told lawmakers the state has a backlog of road and bridge needs of about $1.25 billion, The Times-Picayune reported.
Anker said the fuel tax that hasn’t changed in a quarter century only makes it worse. Because of inflation, he told lawmakers the 16-cent portion of the tax is worth less than half that amount.
Despite Gov. Bobby Jindal’s opposition to increasing the tax, lawmakers will continue to discuss the option, as well as others, as they approach an end-of-the-year deadline.
The Louisiana Legislature can take up for consideration possible funding methods during the regular session that begins in March 2010.

7/28/09-An advocacy group has released a report advising Louisiana lawmakers to increase the state’s fuel tax to help trim the Bayou State’s lengthy list of road and bridge projects. The Legislature and Gov. Bobby Jindal rejected such a plan earlier this year.
The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana unveiled their findings with a series of recommendations on how to pay for major transportation projects. It says the state needs $650 million annually in new revenue to reduce an estimated $14 billion backlog of unfunded road work. Also addressed is how to offset a steady decline in federal highway funding.
The non-partisan government watchdog group says an expanded construction program cannot be built easily on revenue shifted from other budgets.
“Unfortunately, raising new revenue is the only option for reducing the backlog of much-needed road construction and maintenance projects,” PAR President Jim Brandt said in a written statement. “Because good roads are so important to the state’s economy, we find that certain dedications would be acceptable as long as they would not impact the level of funding currently going to health care and education. Any acceptable dedication would have to be from new revenue directly related to highway use.”
Options touted include raising the 20-cent-per-gallon fuel tax by 2 cents and indexing the tax to inflation. The group says indexing the tax would allow for annual increases without requiring further legislative action.
Other sources of revenue would come from increases to highway user fees and taxes, which include truck registration and vehicle license fees.
Partnering with private groups to put up the money needed to complete projects in exchange for collecting tolls over a set period of time also is recommended.
When pursuing privatization deals, the group encourages state officials to exercise “extreme caution, using maximum transparency and recognizing the limited applicability of this approach.”
The Louisiana Legislature can take up for consideration these and other possible funding methods during the regular session that begins in March 2010.