Transportation Issues on Ballot

Voters in several states will see transportation funding initiatives on their ballots on Nov. 6, according to the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA). Faced with significant shortages in federal funding for roads, bridges and highways, many states have put forth measures to address their funding needs. Voters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah, will all consider transportation funding measures this year. 

California voters will consider adjustments to the motor fuel user fee, which has remained stagnant at the federal level since 1993. A ballot measure would repeal the recent increase to the state’s motor fuel user fee that supports a $5 billion annual package to build and repair infrastructure. A repeal would take away funding for over 6,500 transportation projects already underway in California, setting the state back even further.

In Missouri, voters will decide on a measure that would raise the state’s motor fuel user fee for the first time since 1996. A recent report by TRIP estimates the Show Me State’s deteriorating roads and bridges cost motorists $7.8 billion annually.

Utah residents will consider a measure that would increase the motor fuel user fee to generate funds for both roads and the state’s schools.

Connecticut voters will choose to create a lockbox for transportation funds that will ensure revenue generated for transportation projects and initiatives is used exclusively for transportation-related purposes. In Colorado, voters will decide between two measures that would address the state’s transportation funding needs, which the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) estimates at $1 billion annually.

“It’s incredibly important for voters at aggregate operations to turn out for this year’s election and know about initiatives in their states to increase infrastructure funding,” said NSSGA President and CEO Michael W. Johnson. “Demonstrating support for these measures could help Congress see that infrastructure funding is a high-priority item for constituents. This could spark real action at the federal level to fix the Highway Trust Fund and fund further improvements to our country’s deteriorating infrastructure.”

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