Title: Why We Still Can’t Afford to Fix America’s Broken Infrastructure | FiveThirtyEight
Headings: Why We Still Can’t Afford to Fix America’s Broken Infrastructure
Why We Still Can’t Afford to Fix America’s Broken Infrastructure
Content: The HTF typically distributes around $40 billion to $50 billion each year. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the HTF is set to have a balance of $1 billion at the end of this fiscal year. That means even a state like Florida, which has seen its fiscal health improve, won’t be spending as much money on bridges, roads and tunnels. Florida receives about $2 billion per year from the HTF, and about 35 percent of Florida’s transportation budget is reliant on federal funds, Prasad said. “ There will be impact — but if it’s a short-term impact, we can weather better than other states,” he said. The HTF’s revenues from the gas tax are falling for the same reason gas taxes at the state and local level are falling: People are driving less and, when they do drive they’re using more fuel-efficient vehicles. Raising the federal gas tax is a non-starter, and Congress can’t agree on whether to make up the shortfall, as it has in recent years. Without that funding, and with state debt levels still high, we won’t see very many new bridges any time soon. CORRECTION (June 3, 12:25 p.m.):