01/24/2022

ACEC Ohio Legislative Update-January 24, 2022

FOR Ohio Coalition Letter on SB 277

The Fix Our Roads (FOR) Ohio Coalition, which ACEC Ohio is a founding member, sent this letter to all members of the Ohio General Assembly stating the reasons why Senate Bill 277 (reducing state motor fuel tax) is not good for Ohio. The bill has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee, no hearings have been scheduled yet. ACEC Ohio members are encouraged to talk to your State Senator or State Representative about this bill, feel free to share the letter again.  Last week, the Governor commented on SB 277, see the article from Gongwer News Service below:

DeWine Throws Cold Water On Temporary Gas Tax Cut

Gov. Mike DeWine is cool on the idea of pausing the collection of additional taxes to fund transportation infrastructure that he successfully pushed for upon taking office.

Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) has introduced legislation, SB 277, to reduce the motor fuel tax by 10.5 cents per gallon over a five-year period. It would also cut the diesel fuel tax by 20 cents per gallon.

But Gov. DeWine said in an interview that putting those tax increases and fees on hold would be a mistake.

"Infrastructure is vitally important to the safety of the people who drive on the roads," he said. "Infrastructure is vitally important to the economic development of the state and the creation of jobs. So, this is not a time to pull back in regard to infrastructure."

The governor specifically cited the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, saying that while federal money is expected to be available for the project, Ohio and Kentucky will likely have to pony up state funds.

"We have a bridge to build across the Ohio River, and we have a lot of things to do. The building of that bridge will take some state money. We hope to get a lot of federal dollars. I talked to (Kentucky) Gov. Beshear two days ago about this and we're both optimistic that we could get federal dollars but we both realize that it is going to take some state money. We have other needs around the state. So, I just think that would be a really, really not good idea."

Gov. DeWine said it is currently unclear how much state funding will be required to replace the aging bridge. But he believes both Ohio and Kentucky will have a good argument to receive discretionary federal dollars for the project.

White House Memo on Federal Infrastructure Bill Implementation:

The White House circulated a memo to Congress documenting 60 days of implementation actions on the infrastructure bill.  The memo can be Found here, or on the ACEC IIJA Resource Page. 

As expected, most of the funding announcements so far have been through existing programs (e.g. transportation and water) with established formulas and well-known administrative processes.  The newly authorized initiatives and competitive grants are slower to get going, but the memo lays out what is coming next in many areas.