Democrats turned up the heat Tuesday in their session-long assault on a Republican-backed road-funding plan, grilling a top Utah Department of Transportation official during a caucus lunch meeting.
House Minority Leader David Jones and his colleagues feasted on "soft money" in a conversation with UDOT Deputy Director Clint Topham about how his department can help pay for road construction by making itself more efficient.The Democrats concluded that, just as they'd suspected, UDOT can't produce $200 million in cold, hard cash as part of the $2.83 billion Centennial Highway Fund.
As an appetizer, the entire Legislature was served up a heaping helping of optimism from Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah. Cook said the state still might receive up to $750 million in additional money for road and transit projects over the next six years. Jones, D-Salt Lake City, thinks it'll be more like $100 million.
By early afternoon, Jones had a queasy stomach - brought on, he said, by learning to his satisfaction that the Centennial fund will be short by at least $160 million at the end of the 10-year road construction plan. Topham said so far UDOT has identified only $37.6 million in cash savings that can be contributed to the road fund.
"I didn't want to be right," Jones said.
Cook thinks Jones is wrong on his prediction that the feds will give only $100 million to Utah for I-15 reconstruction and other road projects. The Centennial Highway Fund, which includes the $1.59 billion I-15 project, now calls for $450 million to come from federal funds.
As a member of the House Transportation Committee, Cook is in position to make educated guesses about what Utah will get when, and if, the federal Inter-modal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act is reauthorized by Congress. Cook gave these possible scenarios and the chances each would become reality:
- Congress does not reauthorize the intermodal act but simply extends the current level of funding to each state indefinitely. Even if that happens, Cook said, Utah will get $35 million more each year than in previous years or about $200 million in additional road funds over the next six years.
Cook's odds: 10 percent chance.
- Congress passes the Senate version of intermodal act reauthorization, giving Utah about $70 million more per year for a total of more than $400 million over six years.
Cook's odds: 30 percent chance.
- Congress passes the House version of intermodal act reauthorization, including a provision giving certain states additional funds for "high-cost interstate reconstruction," up to $80 million over six years, and an "Olympic-host" clause providing about $200 million over six years for states preparing to stage the Olympic Games.
Since Utah qualifies under both, it could receive up to $750 million in additional money over six years, he said.
Cook's odds: 60 percent chance.
"The bottom line is, we have a 90 percent chance to get between $400 (million) and $750 million over six years," Cook said.
During Cook's visit to the House, Jones asked him how Utah could expect more for Olympic-related transportation than the $53 million he said Georgia received for the 1996 Summer Games.
Cook repeated that there is a range of possibilities, then criticized President Clinton for freezing transportation spending and diverting fuel tax revenues into social programs. Jones felt his question had been dodged.
Topham, flanked by UDOT comp-troller Max Ditlevsen and surrounded by Democrats and reporters, couldn't escape the verbal darts tossed his way Tuesday.
Topham said UDOT is spending 10 percent less on construction engineering and design than in past years, which will save millions of dollars on Centennial projects. For example, Topham said $155 million could be saved through these departmental efficiencies on a $1.55 billion construction project.
But he admitted that savings is in "soft dollars," not hard currency that can be transferred directly into the Centennial fund. If not for the efficiencies, he explained, the $2.83 billion road-funding package could be millions of dollars higher.
Topham handed out a list of other areas in which at least $12 million in "hard" state transportation dollars, and possibly much more, could be saved and diverted into the Centennial fund.