February 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 51

needed 66 percent of the vote (twothirds majority) to pass, but only received 62 percent.
Transportation
Transportation advocates are increasingly turning to state efforts to boost
funding because Congress has been
unable to agree to any major new
transportation revenues since the
last long-term surface transportation
law expired in 2009. The existing
18.4-cent-per-gallon gas tax hasn't
been increased since 1993. Therefore,
the Highway Trust Fund - which
funds transportation projects ranging from bridges to bike trails - has
become exhausted. Instead of longterm reliable funding that comes
from a dedicated source of revenue,
federal lawmakers have kept money
flowing to the states through a series
of short-term patches, usually paying

tax so revenues could keep up with
inflation and allow the state to stay
on top of its transportation needs. In
a vote closely followed by transportation advocates across the nation,
voters decided by a small 52 percent
majority to repeal the indexing of the
gas tax. The vote does not impact the
original 3-cent gas tax increase.
A small but vocal minority of
both Republicans and Democrats in
Washington are showing the courage
to publicly speak about the need to
increase the federal gas tax, as well
as possibly indexing this user fee in
order to keep up with the fact that our
nation's infrastructure has fallen behind dozens of competing countries
overseas. The calls have grown stronger as gasoline prices plunge toward
$2 per gallon. Many legislators think
that there has never been a better
time for public acceptance.

Nationwide, more than two dozen state and local
ballot questions ranging from State Constitutional
Amendments to local taxes and municipal bonds
were approved by voters.
for them with general funds. The latest temporary fix expires in May, just
as the construction season begins,
and there is much uncertainty in the
transportation construction world.
Even a last-minute deal to keep funds
flowing would be problematic because it would not give state agencies
enough planning time to start any
new projects beyond basic upkeep.
One of the most significant measures at the state level was considered by Massachusetts, where the
legislature recently approved a 3-cent
increase in the state gas tax for transportation as well as indexing the
	

What does it mean for action on
Capitol Hill? We'll know more by the
end of May when MAP-21 expires.
Will Congress act in a manner that
truly shores up the Highway Trust
Fund and allows states to plan their
transportation work over time, or
will they simply kick the can down
the road as they have previously done
by passing another short-term six-to12-month " patch " that does nothing
to address the Highway Trust Fund's
ongoing insolvency?
Here are a few takeaways from
the election results: Voters seem to
be separating their negative feelings

for federal programs from their desire to see increasing investments in
critical municipal infrastructure at
home. While Washington may be
caught up in partisan ideology, the
public is regularly and repeatedly
showing that this divide seems to
end in our nation's capital and that
investing in park and recreation infrastructure is, indeed, a critical priority at the community level.
This is a mixed blessing for park
and recreation agencies. While agencies may not be able to count on any
sort of reliable federal partnership,
community recognition of the value
of the services and spaces they provide is on the rise, regardless of who
and how voters are represented in
Washington. Parks, recreation and
conservation are not generally subjects that stimulate political rancor,
but a dysfunctional Washington has
recently proven that it is not quite
ready to cease lurching from crisis
to crisis. The election results showed
resounding support for parks, recreation and land conservation. Our federal elected officials would do well to
be mindful of the overwhelming support for this public good.
David Tyahla is NRPA's Senior Government
Affairs Manager (dtyahla@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

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February 2015 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2015 - Parks & Recreation
