We commend Congress for extending funding for the Federal Highway Trust Fund. However, once again, it appears they are electing to kick this can down the road by offering only a short-term solution. While short-term solutions keep the fund solvent, they do nothing to solve the real problem: Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling and is in need of a long-term, stable funding solution.
More than three-quarters of California's $3.8 billion annual budget for highway construction projects contain federal funding. It's imperative that our state's highway fund continues to receive federal reimbursements. If those federal dollars dry up, our state highway fund could become insolvent in as little as two months. Work on more than 680 major projects worth nearly $10.7 billion dollars could come to a halt, and thousands of hard-working Californians could be out of work.
While the topic is being discussed in D.C., the impacts will hit our state the hardest. One out of every 10 miles driven in the United States is driven in California and more than half the nation's freight is hauled on our roadways.
This delay is not only about funding, it also holds up the implementation of transportation funding policies put in place by the passage of the last multi-year transportation bill in 2012. One of those policies is a transition to a performance-based funding mechanism, which we welcome in a state that routinely maximizes its federal dollars. Last year, our state received a near-record $191 million in extra funding collected from other states that couldn't start their projects on time.
More fuel efficient cars have led to a drop in the gas tax that supports our roads. While that is great for the environment, in California it has contributed to an annual shortfall of $5.7 billion dollars that would be used for highway maintenance projects. We are in danger of losing the infrastructure that our forefathers built more than 50 years ago. The clock is ticking on finding a long-term solution to this ongoing dilemma.
If we don't find a fix, the can Congress keeps kicking down the road is going to land face down in a pothole.