House Transportation counsel backs removing multi-year advance bonding authorization, narrows required report

Damian Leonard, lead counsel from the Office of Legislative Counsel, told the House Transportation Committee on May 21 that proposed edits to the legislature's transportation bill would "do away with the authorization for 2028 to 2032." He said the earlier, multi-year authorization is unnecessary because the General Assembly can authorize bonds in 2028 if it chooses.

Leonard outlined an alternative that removes the Senate's requirement that the Agency of Transportation (AOT) prepare parallel transportation programs. Instead, the AOT would be directed to report "on or after February 1st, 2027" on projects not proposed for the FY2028 transportation program that are first-priority and "eligible to be funded with bonds." Leonard said bondable projects must have an expected life of at least 30 years and cited examples such as road reconstruction, bridges and culverts while excluding short-life items like paving.

The draft report would compare present-value costs of funding projects with transportation infrastructure bond proceeds versus paying on a pay-as-you-go basis, show schedules under each financing approach, review historic transportation-infrastructure bond usage including debt-service costs, and project future debt-service and the revenues necessary to pay it. Leonard emphasized that debt-service capacity is limited by gasoline sales, noting the TIP surcharge on each gallon as a revenue constraint.

Michelle Boomhower, representing AOT on the record, and committee members discussed project readiness: some projects remain in scoping or design and could be advanced if bundled and procured through a design-build contract, which might accelerate schedules. Committee members stressed that the availability of federal matching funds under the forthcoming federal transportation reauthorization bill will materially affect which projects it makes fiscal sense to advance.

Committee members used a hypothetical example (a $100 million bridge package) to illustrate leverage: if federal funds cover a large share, the state's bonded share could represent roughly 10 percent of total project cost in one illustration. Members also raised inflation and resiliency as considerations favoring earlier construction, and Leonard said the requested analyses (Section B items) would help weigh life-cycle costs, maintenance implications and projected debt-service.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the bonding language during this session. Members said they had "signed off on 9045, you know, sections" and were down to the bonding section and a remaining "mile space" item; Chair Walker was expected to present the proposal for further reaction the following morning at 8:30.