Members,

By now you have probably seen news that the Governor and Senate/Assembly Leadership have announced a transportation funding deal. As you know, at the direction of the CTA Infrastructure Taskforce and Highway Policy Committees, CTA has actively engaged the legislature and administration for the entire four years this deal has been in the making. While these mega-deals are never perfect and, in many instances business gets no concessions, we believe that this package is the best deal industry will possibly get and are lobbying for its passage.

 

We were directed to engage using the following CTA Board approved principles:

• Any new revenues should be collected through fuel taxes and should be protected for road and highway maintenance.
• Return of truck weight fees to road infrastructure and no weight fee increases.
• No reg fee or VLF increases.

So where did we come out in the final package? We are happy to say that your policy recommendations are heavily reflected in this final deal.

• First, road repair and maintenance, congestion relief and freight infrastructure are the funding plan's clear priorities. We rely on our roads and highways to service our customers and ATRI estimates that delays from congested roadways costs your company $65/hr. In 2015, damage to a single bridge on I-15 was estimated to cost the industry $2.5 million a day in detours and delays. These dollars will ensure the necessary resources are available to keep your trucks moving on the most efficient routes possible.
• Second, no weight fee increases and trucking is exempt from a new VLF-style fee based on vehicle value. While we will still push to return weight fees to their intended purposes in the future, the 50-100% weight fee recapture that was part of earlier versions of the bill was left out of the final deal.
• Third, all new transportation revenues are constitutionally protected for transportation purposes. These funds cannot be raided to shore up the general fund.
• Fourth, to offset increased trucking industry costs, the final package includes the CTA Board Approved concept guaranteeing a minimum "useful life" for the investment you have made in clean trucks so that you can make investments to upgrade your fleet in confidence without wondering when and where the rug will be pulled out from under you.
• Fifth, the final package incorporates SB174 (Lara), CTA's Board approved, sponsored legislation, which will level the playing field for CARB compliant carriers.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have about this transportation deal.  

 

Major Provisions of SB1

• 12c added gasoline excise to road repair tied to CPI
• New vehicle user fee based on value of vehicle (commercial trucks exempt)
• New zero emission vehicle reg fee 
• 20c added diesel excise to road repair/freight corridors tied to CPI
• 4% added diesel sales to transit tied to CPI
• No weight fee increase, 
• Truck equipment useful life language: No retrofitting or replacement of trucks until later of 13 years or 800,000 miles, with cap of 18 years from the date the engine is certified by CARB/EPA for use applied to rules adopted/amended after 2017
• Incorporation of DMV/CARB registration tie-in (CTA sponsored bill SB174)
• New revenues constitutionally protected for transportation

How Revenue is Generated

• $10.8b over ten years from diesel/commercial
• $40.9b over ten years from gasoline/private passenger
• Maintains traditional revenue split between light duty/commercial sources (80/20)

Over next ten years funding allocated

• $30b to State highway and local road repair and maintenance
• $4b to bridge and culvert repair and maintenance 
• $3b to newly created freight fund for priority freight corridor improvements
• $2.5b to congestion relief projects
• $39.5b total truck project benefits against $10.8b in new truck revenue.

State 2027 performance targets

• Not less than 98 percent of pavement on the state highway system in good or fair condition.
• Not less than 90 percent level of service achieved for maintenance of potholes, spalls, and cracks.
• Not less than 90 percent of culverts in good or fair condition.
• Not less than 90 percent of the transportation management system units in good condition.

Fix not less than an additional 500 bridges.