National Conference of State Legislatures: Paving the Way
ITEP Work in Action“Activity in Congress earlier this year raised hopes that a federal transportation authorization spanning more than one calendar year would finally be passed. This would have allowed state transportation officials to plan with more certainty. Although both the Senate and House have now passed bills, the possibility of reconciling their differences in conference—and thus of any long-term authorization before the November elections—remains uncertain.
This leaves state lawmakers once again unsure of what will come out of Washington, D.C., and burdened with finding new ways to pull together enough money to maintain their decaying roads and bridges.
Necessity is the mother of invention, however, and this crisis has inspired the imaginations of state lawmakers. Transportation funding, finance and efficiency measures, both innovative and traditional, are being crafted to forestall a catastrophe—at least for the moment. Here are a few proposed solutions being considered nationwide.”