The Next Big Economic Crisis Is About To Cause Huge Cuts In Federal Highway Funding…(Third World Here We Come!!)
Brett LoGiurato
BusinessInsider.com
July 1, 2014
In a letter Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx warned the Obama administration will begin delaying reimbursements to states for infrastructure projects on Aug. 1 if Congress cannot come up with a solution to replenish the diminishing Highway Trust Fund. This move could create problems for highway and road construction profits at the height of the summer travel season.
Foxx’s letter, which was directed to state transportation officials, said checks to states will only be sent twice a month and will only be partial reimbursements. States typically receive “same day” reimbursements for many construction projects.
The Department of Transportation is undertaking the new procedures to keep a positive balance in the Highway Trust Fund, in which the department expects a shortfall beginning sometime in August. The fund is financed through gasoline taxes, which have not been raised in decades and currently provide inadequate revenue. Both parties in Congress disagree on how to solve the problem. In his letter, Foxx said states will experience cuts in federal funding until Congress finds a long-term solution to the crisis.
“The Department will continue to take every possible measure to fully reimburse your State for as long as we can. However, as we approach insolvency, the Department will be forced to limit payments to manage the reduced levels of cash available in the Trust Fund,” Foxx wrote in the letter. “This means, among other things, that the Federal Highway Administration will no longer make ‘same-day’ payments to reimburse States.”
The Rest…HERE
