WASHINGTON — Nearly 40 percent of all the spending on transportation infrastructure in Maine, including roads, bridges and airports, comes from the federal government.
In July Congress extended authorization for transportation programs, but it's scheduled to run out at the end of this month. And there may need to be yet another short-term fix.
Last summer, after the House stood in the way of a three-year spending bill, Congress passed a short-term measure to fund transportation programs through December. The Senate reluctantly went along.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, is worried that the longer-term plan that most senators favor would be strongly opposed by fiscal conservatives because it would tax corporate profits now being held by overseas-based affiliates of U.S. corporations.
"It would be denominated as a tax increase I believe, by Grover Norquist and the anti-tax folks, so I think that will be very difficult," King says.
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says fuel taxes can no longer generate the revenues needed to pay for the repair and replacement of roads and bridges.
She says while everybody recognizes the problem, it has been hard to come up with a solution that can win enough political support. She says if the House would agree to the three-year plan the Senate has adopted, it could provide time to build a consensus after a new president is in office.
"At least the Senate bill gets us past the presidential election and then perhaps, well, we definitely have new leadership and maybe that will be the impetus that allows everyone to sit down and address this problem," she says.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine's 1st District, says she would support a gas tax increase and a six-year funding plan based on that tax hike, but says there aren't enough votes in the House to pass that measure.
With the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner, she says, House Republicans are not focused on issues.
"The majority party is having leadership elections this week so they seem to be somewhat in a state of flux," Pingree says. "But hopefully, after this week's elections, we will get back to work and they will propose a plan for that because obviously we can't run out of highway funds."
But 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, says he is hopeful for a long-term funding plan for six or seven years.
"There is growing interest here in that I can see in the House and in the Senate for a refunding of the highway trust fund that funds our roads and bridges throughout the country," he says.
State transportation officials have been waiting for a long-term plan. Right now there is enough money in the pipeline for current road projects, but without new legislation, contracts will be limited to what can be paid for with state funds, and that points to a sharp cut in projects.