Lawmakers Fighting for More State Road Funds
By Larry Bivins
Tennessean Washington Bureau
May 26, 2003

WASHINGTON — As a native of rural Tennessee, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis appreciates the benefits of major highway construction.

And the freshman Democrat from Pall Mall says President Bush's six-year, $247 billion proposal for highways and mass transit isn't big enough.

If approved, Bush's plan — the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act — would be the largest highway bill ever.

But Davis, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, favors an alternative $375 billion proposal.

''We're talking about stimulating the economy as well as building roads that will offer economic opportunity and growth for some of the more isolated areas,'' he said in a recent interview. ''It's a great opportunity.''

A Transportation Committee analysis shows that Tennessee would get an additional $2.1 billion under the plan that Davis supports, which would create 26,696 more jobs over six years.

Lawmakers say the highway money is critical to the Tennessee Department of Transportation's efforts to expand highways, repair bridges, improve mass transit, enhance parkways and promote other initiatives throughout the state.

Under Bush's plan, Tennessee's basic federal funding would drop by $21 million next year from the current level of about $630 million, according to a Gannett News Service analysis. By 2009, the state's annual allotment would rise to $707.8 million.

''He's under-funding the highway bill, and it's a shame because there is no better stimulus for the economy,'' Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Murfreesboro, said of Bush's measure.

But neither Davis nor Gordon seem ready to back an increase in the 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax, last raised in 1993, as called for by some of their colleagues. Gas tax dollars are placed into a trust fund and then divided up among states based on a formula that includes population and highway usage.

''It would be difficult to approve any type of tax increase,'' Davis said, ''when we are being asked to reduce taxes in every other area.''

The highway bill is one of the major vehicles for lawmakers seeking to bring home federal dollars. Each member of Congress is invited to submit requests for funding road, bridge or mass transit projects in his or her district to the Transportation Committee.

Gordon, for example, has requested funding for seven projects at a cost of $129.1 million, including $49.1 million to convert Highway 96 into a four-lane highway.

Rep. Jim Cooper has asked for more than $200 million for 19 projects in Davidson County. They include $23 million to continue the Gateway Boulevard project, which would provide an evacuation route for the Nashville business district. The Nashville Democrat also is asking for $30.7 million to complete modifications to the White Bridge Road interchange at Interstate 40.

Rep. John Tanner's wish list amounts to more than $301 million for 10 projects, including $100 million for Interstate 69 in Dyer, Lauderdale, Obion and Tipton counties and $17.8 million for road work in Madison County.

While not all the requests will be filled, Davis hopes to use whatever influence he can muster as the low man on the committee to help out Tennessee lawmakers and state transportation officials.

''But I'm going to lean a little bit stronger,'' he said, ''to get dollars for the district I represent.''

Davis, who also served on the Transportation Committee as a state senator, said he is lobbying for several projects in his district, including work on U.S. highways 27 and 127 and state Highway 62. He's also pushing for completion of the widening of U.S. 64 across southern Tennessee.

''If you look at the district I represent, we got 24 counties and probably have more miles of state and federal and county highways than any other district in Tennessee,'' Davis said. ''As a result, reauthorization of that bill is important to the people I serve.''

In addition to funding for special projects, Davis and other Tennessee lawmakers have joined a coalition of lawmakers who support changing the basic funding formula to guarantee that every state receives 95 cents on every dollar paid in federal gas taxes.

Under the current formula, Tennessee gets just 90 cents on the dollar and is one of 23 ''donor'' states that help subsidize funding for less-populated states. Alaska, for example, gets back from the federal government $6.60 for every dollar paid in gas taxes.

''Our objective must be to ensure states get a fair allocation that allows them to meet their transportation needs,'' said U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, who is a co-sponsor of the Highway Funding Equity Act in the House.

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander is co-sponsoring companion legislation in the Senate. He noted that over the past five years, Tennessee has subsidized other states to the sum of $200 million.