Road funding bill sails through
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After more than a year of trying, highway backers won a major victory Friday when the Legislature approved a bill to gradually boost state aid to roads and bridges by $255 million per year.
The measure, Senate Bill 11, won Senate approval with 38 of the 39 senators voting for the measure and one against it shortly before lawmakers ended their six-day special session.
Earlier in the day the House approved the legislation 105-0.
Backers said the measure is needed to start making a dent in Louisiana’s $14 billion backlog of road and bridge needs.
“This is a move in the right direction,” said Jennifer Marusak, spokeswoman for Driving Louisiana Forward, which represents highway contactors and others that supported the bill.
Marusak’s group and chamber of commerce officials worked for months last year for a similar bill. It died in the Senate, largely because of opposition from former Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
The proposal this time was one of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s top priorities for the special session.
Jindal said in his post-session news conference that the change is a common-sense move, especially at a time of robust state revenue.
The bill would gradually increase state highway aid by reshuffling the state operating budget.
It would move sales tax dollars from car and truck sales, which now finance a wide range of state services, into a fund that pays for transportation needs only.
The increase would total $42 million in the financial year that begins July 1. It would rise to $255 million in five years.
After seven years, the change would provide about $320 million per year in new aid for roads and bridges.
Under the bill, new state transportation spending would generally be determined through priority lists at the state Department of Transportation and Development.
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