TRUST 2010 Legislative Objectives (
printer friendly version here)
1) Protect ODOT 8-year construction work plan, Ensuring state funding remains at a level where no planned projects are cut from the current eight-year road and bridge construction work plan is our top priority. A key component of protecting the plan is the understanding by state lawmakers that 2009 transportation stimulus dollars came with a commitment, signed by the Governor, stating Oklahoma would not supplant nor decrease state spending by using stimulus dollars.
If Oklahoma does not keep its planned level of investment in roads and bridges, the federal government will prevent Oklahoma from participating in the redistribution of unused federal road funds available from other states at the end of this federal fiscal year. Over the past three years, the redistribution process has provided Oklahoma roads and bridges an additional $63 million.
2) Rainy-day plan. TRUST supports transportation funding as a core function of state government that should be included as a priority in budget relief should the state’s Rainy Day Fund be accessed.
3) Oppose State Question 744. This initiative may prove even more dangerous than the current state budget crisis. For an overview of how harmful SQ 744 will be to road funding, see the bottom of this page.
4) Indexing ROADS fund to Producer Price Index for Highway and Street Construction. The cost of highway construction has increased 75% in the past five years. TRUST spearheaded efforts in 2009 for a legislative task force that studied the merits of indexing state funds to protect against inflation. The task force found if an index was applied it may yield roads and bridges $500 million in additional funding over ten years.
5) The remaining thirty-percent of motor vehicle fees redirected to transportation. A core principle of TRUST is all transportation-derived revenues should be used strictly for transportation. While the budget climate makes this an unlikely year to advance returning MV fees from general government spending to roads, TRUST will continue to promote this concept as a matter of sound public policy.
6) Support vehicle tag late fees funding transportation needs. Last year, under Senate Bill 658, the late fee for delinquent tag renewals rose from 25-cents-a-day to $1-a-day to fund the Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) as a one-year solution. The legislation calls for those fees to be returned to transportation this year. TRUST supports the current intent of the law.
7) Raise the cap on ROADS Fund. TRUST supports a graduated increase to the ROADS cap that has no immediate fiscal impact, but does allow the State Department of Transportation to expand project planning in their multi-year construction work plan.
8) Innovative funding task force. TRUST will pursue a comprehensive 2010 task force dedicated to studying alternative funding solutions such as vehicle miles traveled, enhanced user fees, public-private partnerships, tolling of existing infrastructure, congestion pricing, impact to Oklahoma of a possible national infrastructure bank, expansion of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and corresponding Oklahoma corridors that may benefit from these solutions. Implementing alternative funding will likely become more urgent as the federal funding formula is revamped to reward states that have these mechanisms to enhance transportation revenues.