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September 20, 2010 Capitol Update

Paving the way

By Mal Leary

State’s roads ranking slips

  • Report rates Maine 32nd in nation
  • Interstate conditions improve

A study of the nation’s roads and bridges indicates Maine continues to lose ground, dropping three spots from last year to 32nd in the nation. Maine peaked at 15th best in the nation in 2000.

The 19th annual report measures state highway performance and cost-effectiveness, on factors including urban traffic congestion, fatality rates and the number of unsafe narrow rural lanes. “It’s been a continuing slide,” David Hartgen of consulting firm the Hartgen Group, which conducted the study for the Reason Foundation, said of Maine performance. “But the data does lag and is principally from 2008, so it does not reflect the recovery act funding or the state bond issues that were passed. It is important to point out that while overall the state has slipped, it has made some improvements.”

The state tied for first in the nation for the condition of both its rural and urban interstate highways. Maine also improved its ranking from 43rd to 36th in bridge deficiency and moved from 10th to fifth in the cost of administration of the Department of Transportation.

Hartgen, a retired professor of transportation studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, authors the annual study comparing states’ management of resources to assure adequate roads and bridges. He visits Maine frequently, most recently in June, and lived in Orono for several years where his late father, Vincent Hartgen, was a well-known art professor at the University of Maine.

“There is no question that the roads are deteriorating from where they were,” he said. “I saw that driving around when I was up in June. But that is happening across the country, not just in Maine.” All states are struggling with higher costs for the materials used to maintain and build roads, as well as rising costs for bridge repair and replacement materials, Hartgen said.

Maine Transportation Commissioner David Cole, who described the Hartgen report as “the standard” in an interview two years ago, said while his agency closely reads the report, he believes some of the measures used in the study unfairly hurt the state’s ranking.

“We get dinged for having rural roads that are 11 feet wide and professor Hartgen believes they should be 12 feet wide,” he said. What counts as “rural” in Connecticut and in Maine varies widely, he said, as rural Maine highways are used far less than similar roads in more populous states.

But Cole was pleased the state was among those tied for the top spot for both types of interstate highways and with the improvement in what he called the “lean” ranking of administrative costs. “I think when you see the data from last year and this in a future report, you will see us doing even better,” he said.

Maria Fuentes, executive director of the Maine Better Transportation Association, said while the state has “done some things right,” Maine has continued to drop in the overall ratings and is nearly at the bottom of the list, at 47th, for its upkeep of rural highways. “Anyone who lives in rural Maine will attest to the fact that we have a lot of work to do on those roads and, in fact, some are unsafe,” she said.

Rep. Doug Thomas, R-Ripley, a member of the Legislature’s transportation committee, disputes Cole’s claim that the agency is spending money wisely and efficiently. “When you go by a road project and you see two guys working and six watching them work, that is not a wise use of our money,” he said.

Aug. revenues rebound

  • Sales, income taxes higher
  • Lawmakers don’t get hopes up

Revenues rebounded in August after starting the budget year in the red, wiping out a $1.2 million shortfall in July.

Sales taxes are “a little above “ estimates for August and income tax withholding could beat out estimates by as much as $10 million, according to Mike Allen, research director at Maine Revenue Services, but he remained uncertain as to why personal income tax revenues are above estimates. The additional income tax revenue does not herald an economic turnaround, however, he said. “There is no indication of any big change in the economy,” he said.

Finance Commissioner Ellen Schneiter said in July the state was six-tenths of a percent below revenue estimates and she does not expect August to come in more than “a few percentage points” above estimates when numbers are finalized. “Our estimates really appear to be close to target,” Schneiter said.

While it is good news to see August revenues in the black, Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, the appropriations committee co-chair, said she is still concerned that the economy continues to “bounce along on the bottom” and noted that the income tax gains could be wiped out in the months ahead.

Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, the GOP senator on the committee, said the August revenues are a continuation of the “up and down” nature of revenues as Mainers continue to suffer from the recession. “If you look at the big picture, overall revenue items are roughly coming in about as projected,” he said. “It is very tough to read too much into one month or two months of figures.”

Superfund fees back on table

  • Obama seeks to reinstate pollution taxes
  • ME delegation considers proposal

Congress established the Superfund program 30 years ago to clean up abandoned polluted sites through taxes on chemical and oil companies. The taxes expired in 1995 and the money ran out, with clean-up efforts since depending on annual appropriations.

Maine congressional delegation is willing to consider a plan by President Obama to bring the taxes back and finally clean up those hazardous sites. The proposal is not a substitute for current law, which allows federal and state environmental agencies to sue the owners of a site or other responsible parties, but a last resort to pay for what can be an expensive process.

First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said she was shocked to find Congress had let the taxes expire. She supports imposing the taxes again because economic growth in Maine and in other states has been held up by former factory sites too polluted to clean up without federal aid, she said. “For us in Maine, this really is an economic development issue,” she said.

Second District Congressman Mike Michaud said he’s no fan of increased taxes, but said a tax on companies that make the pollutants is preferable to higher taxes on everyone else to pay for clean up of sites that endanger public health.

Maine’s two senators support the Superfund law requiring clean up by responsible parties, but they are not enthusiastic about imposing taxes for the fund again, as proposals are pending to increase taxes on oil companies to provide more resources for the oil spill clean up fund.

Sen. Susan Collins said she is willing to consider supporting taxes on oil and chemical companies for the Superfund, but only if the way the fund operates is significantly changed. Most of the money from the last Superfund law went to lawyers for litigation, not for cleaning up hazardous waste sites, she said.

While Obama wants Congress to act on his proposal this year, Congress has a lot to consider when it returns to session this month and plans to break in early October for the elections. Sen. Olympia Snowe expects there will be hearings on the issue in the Senate before any changes are considered, and believes the new Congress will consider the Superfund proposal next year.

 

Mal Leary runs Capitol News Service in Augusta. He can be reached at editorial@mainebiz.biz. Read more of Mal’s columns here.

 

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