No segment of the economy has been harder hit by the Great Recession than the construction industry. Unemployment is at an all-time high, with the local trade unions reporting as many as 40 percent of their workers are out of work. One way to get people back on the payroll and create jobs ”“ thereby stimulating the economy ”“ is to improve our publicly funded networks of roads, bridges and mass transit.
In the Hudson Valley, the sad picture of the state of our bridges tells a very disturbing story. Of the 2,279 bridges in our region, more than 45 percent are either “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete.” That”™s a total of 1,028 bridges that require immediate attention.
Over the past five years, a significant portion of funding for New York”™s transportation infrastructure maintenance and repair was realized through appropriations of the voter-decided Transportation Bond Act, approved in November 2005. This funding referendum infused state coffers with $2.9 billion dedicated for transportation improvements, resulting in partial funding for the last five-year capital plans for the MTA and NYSDOT through 2010.
Today”™s economic climate and public mood are very different from six years ago. The fiscal crisis is wreaking havoc on state and federal budgets, putting pressure on lawmakers to slash public spending despite what history and studies show to be the correct course of action.
All this could not be happening at a worse time. For our state”™s transportation system, here”™s why we”™re literally running on empty:
- The federal government has failed to authorize a multi-year transportation bill to replace the current program (SAFETEA-LU), which expired Sept. 30, 2009. Limp-along funding extensions inhibit states from undertaking long-term planning for major multiyear projects.
- Funding from the aforementioned 2005 Transportation Bond Act is drying up as projects are completed.
- The one-time stimulus funding from the federal economic recovery act, which played a major role in supplementing New York state capital transportation improvement programs, is also coming to an end as projects are completed.
- Excessive borrowing by the state government over the years, instead of a pay-as-you-go method, has jeopardized the solvency and reliability of the state”™s Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund.
In 2010 the state Legislature approved a two-year capital plan for NYSDOT and a five-year capital plan for the MTA, which was funded only for the first two years. Funding for both capital plans expires at the end of 2011. The governor”™s executive budget proposal maintains the state”™s commitment to the capital plans as agreed to in 2010, which will maintain minimum support for transportation infrastructure this year as the state finds solutions to the difficult financial situation it faces.
We support the executive budget regarding transportation, but ask that in the coming months the governor and Legislature address the urgent budget crisis for the MTA and NYSDOT in fully funding their capital plan for 2012-2015.
The capital needs are clear, well documented and have been presented to the Legislature on many occasions by both the MTA and NYSDOT. Most recently, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and former Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch articulated the overriding needs of our state”™s infrastructure and the fact that for too long funding for transportation has relied too heavily on borrowing.
We should heed the warnings. The state is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges. This we all understand. But protecting and improving our highways, bridges and transit systems are an essential part of our state”™s economic recovery and growth.
Finding the resources to fully fund the MTA and NYSDOT capital needs for the remaining three years of their capital plans, estimated to be $10 billion for each agency, will not be easy. But it is imperative for the future of New York.
Ross Pepe is president of the Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley Inc. and the Building Contractors Association of the Mid-Hudson Region, both headquartered in Tarrytown. Reach him at ross@cicnys.org.
