REBUILDING THE BAYOU STATE: LOUISIANA AGC TAKES THE LEAD WITH A BOLD NEW INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE

Dependent on oil and gas severance fees for half of its annual budget, Louisiana was devastated in the mid-1980s when oil prices tumbled worldwide, the result of OPEC overproduction. The state's infrastructure is in great need of repair and expansion, and its transportation system is a textbook example of what happens to a state when highway funds are not protected by the constitution. In June 1989 the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), making good on previous threats, cut off $220 million in federal funding to Louisiana, citing underfunding and neglect. In particular, the FHWA noted that Louisiana's transportation staff was about 500 workers short and that more than 1,000 bridges were not being inspected properly. Today, however, in a bold initiative, AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) has succeeded in getting a landmark infrastructure trust fund measure put before the people in a referendum that would provide $600 million more per year in highway funding and create at least 15,000 jobs. The proposed constitutional amendment would dedicate all of Louisiana's 16 cents-per-gallon excise tax on gasoline, diesel, and other special fuels to an infrastructure trust fund. The measure would also repeal, permanently, the state's three-percent sales tax on fuel, and in its place would come an additional four cents-per-gallon excise tax to a separate infrastructure "catch-up" fund entitled T.I.M.E. (Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development).

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/2642359
• Corporate Authors:

  Associated General Contractors of America

  2300 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 400
  Arlington, VA  United States  22201
• Authors:
  • Herring, B L
• Publication Date: 1989-8

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 33-36
• Serial:
  • Constructor
  • Volume: 71
  • Issue Number: 8
  • Publisher: Associated General Contractors of America
  • ISSN: 0162-6191

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic development; Finance; Financing; Fuels; Highways; Infrastructure; Investments; Taxation
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana
• Subject Areas: Economics; Energy; Finance; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00489979
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 31 1989 12:00AM