Nevada would be hit hard by drop in highway funds

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002 | 10:53 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON -- Scores of road projects across the nation and tens of thousands of construction-related jobs are in jeopardy because of a projected $9.1 billion drop in federal highway aid next year.

Nevada would lose $53 million in funding next year and an estimated 2,227 construction jobs over a seven-year period.

The reduction, due largely to a drop last year in transportation-related tax revenues, is expected to be included in the 2003 fiscal year budget President Bush submits to Congress next week.

The proposed $22.7 billion highway aid budget represents a 29 percent cut from the current $31.8 billion and would affect every state.

The proposed cuts would represent about 25 percent of what the state receives in federal funds, Kent Cooper, assistant director-planning for the Nevada Transportation Department, said.

That would be a huge hit, not only in the 2003 fiscal year but in coming years, as future funding is based on current budgets, Cooper said.

"If the amount is really as big as it is being reported, it could be as much as a 28 percent decrease in (Nevada's) program," said Mike Pieper, Nevada's lobbyist in Washington. "It could bring our construction program to a halt."

Present projects would not be affected, Cooper said.

"It may be two or three years down the road" before any jobs are affected by the cutback, Scott Magruder, a Transportation Department spokesman, said, adding the proposed cuts "were not a done deal."

State Transportation Director Tom Stephens flew to Washington today to meet with the Nevada congressional delegation and will testify Feb. 11 before a congressional committee.

Nevada, the nation's fastest growing state, has a specific concern because road miles are increasing, Magruder said. "A big part of our money comes from the federal government," he said.

The federal government last year gave money to states for highway projects based on revenue projections from gas taxes, truck and tire sales tax and other revenue sources that fell short.

This year the federal government will give states less money to make up for those shortfalls.

Lawmakers in Congress a day or two ago began to get word on the funding shortfalls, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said.

One option lawmakers have is tapping into the balance from last year's federal highway spending, about $18.5 billion in Highway Trust Fund.

But federal Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday that the trust fund money is already committed to other projects. If the trust fund were raided, Congress would have to replenish the fund by taking money from other federal programs, they said.

Others suggested the revenue estimates were off.

It's possible the funding estimate in the president's budget is inaccurate, Pieper said, adding that Nevada and other states have seen an increase in gas taxes, not a decrease.

The General Accounting Office is studying the president's funding estimate. Lawmakers will hold hearings to determine how to restore funding levels.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., chairman of a Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal higway funding, began hearings last week.

Berkley, who sits on the House Transportation Committee, said that panel will begin hearings next week.

"If you cut $53 million out of Nevada highway projects, that's cutting a significant number of jobs," Berkley said. "These are bread and butter projects. This is not fluff, this is not pork."