An Update on the Leadership Initiative for Transportation Solvency

{
  "authors": [],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "SCP",
  "programs": [
    "Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North America"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Climate Change"
  ]
}

Other

An Update on the Leadership Initiative for Transportation Solvency

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform's final report outlines recommendations for reining in the U.S. deficit by 2015, including suggestions for the nation's transportation program.

Published on Jan 12, 2011

Source: January 12

On December 1, 2010, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, released final recommendations for reining in the U.S. deficit by 2015. The report, The Moment of Truth, addressed all aspects of the budget, including the country’s transportation program. The proposal included input from the eighteen commission members but was based on the earlier Co-Chairs’ Proposal, released in November 2010.

All four recommendations submitted to the commission by the co-chairs of the Carnegie Endowment’s Leadership Initiative on Transportation Solvency were included in the commission’s final report. Below is a summary of how the recommendations for reforming and raising revenue for the U.S. transportation program—made by the Initiative’s co-chairs, the Honorable Bill Bradley, the Honorable Tom Ridge, and the Honorable David Walker—correspond to recommendations in The Moment of Truth.

Though eleven commission members endorsed the report—more than half of all members—they fell three votes short of the support needed to force a Congressional vote on the report. This proposal will remain salient, however, as the new Congress considers the growing budget, the debt ceiling, and the reauthorization of the transportation bill in 2011.

Leadership Initiative Recommendations November 2010	Fiscal Responsibility Commission Proposal December 2010
End Wasteful Spending on Existing Surface Transportation Accounts	“Before asking taxpayers to pay more for roads, rail, bridges, and infrastructure, we must ensure existing funds are not wasted. The Commission recommends significant reforms to control federal highway spending.”
Invest in Infrastructure to Grow the Economy	“Congress should limit trust fund spending to the most pressing infrastructure needs rather than forcing states to fund low-priority projects.”
Fully Fund a Reformed Federal Surface Transportation Program with New Revenue Sources	“RECOMMENDATION 1.7: FULLY FUND THE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND INSTEAD OF RELYING ON DEFICIT SPENDING. Dedicate a 15-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax to transportation funding and limit spending if necessary to match the revenue the trust fund collects each year.”
Create a Transportation Realignment and Accountability Commission	“RECOMMENDATION 1.9: Establish a cut-and-invest committee to cut low-priority spending, increase high-priority investment, and consolidate duplicative federal programs.”

Climate Change North America

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Commentary
Diwan
Lake Qaraoun and Migratory Pressures
Lebanon’s largest water reservoir is a house of many mansions when it comes to converging failures.
Camille Ammoun
Article
Afro-Iraqis, Climate Change, and Environmental Injustice in Basra
Afro-Iraqis experience political, economic, and social marginalization and discrimination, which exposes the poorest members of the community to the harsh realities of the region’s climate disaster.
Zeinab Shuker
Article
Kuwait’s Bidun in the Face of Climate Change are Invisible, yet Exposed
Mitigating the repercussions of climate change in Kuwait is crucial for lessening economic disparities and achieving social justice.
Courtney Freer
Paper
“Greening” the Maghreb or Exploiting It?
Unless the European Union-led energy transition provides economic development to Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, the process may be perceived as a new form of extraction.
Yasmine Zarhloule
Commentary
Diwan
Women, Water, and Adaptation in Ait Khabbash
The burden of environmental degradation is felt not only through physical labor but also emotional and social loss.
Yasmine Zarhloule, Ella Williams

Leadership Initiative Recommendations
November 2010

Fiscal Responsibility Commission Proposal
December 2010

End Wasteful Spending on Existing Surface Transportation Accounts

“Before asking taxpayers to pay more for roads, rail, bridges, and infrastructure, we must ensure existing funds are not wasted. The Commission recommends significant reforms to control federal highway spending.”

Invest in Infrastructure to Grow the Economy

“Congress should limit trust fund spending to the most pressing infrastructure needs rather than forcing states to fund low-priority projects.”

Fully Fund a Reformed Federal Surface Transportation Program with New Revenue Sources

“RECOMMENDATION 1.7: FULLY FUND THE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND INSTEAD OF RELYING ON DEFICIT SPENDING. Dedicate a 15-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax to transportation funding and limit spending if necessary to match the revenue the trust fund collects each year.”

Create a Transportation Realignment and Accountability Commission

“RECOMMENDATION 1.9: Establish a cut-and-invest committee to cut low-priority spending, increase high-priority investment, and consolidate duplicative federal programs.”

More Work from Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Commentary

Diwan

Lake Qaraoun and Migratory Pressures

Lebanon’s largest water reservoir is a house of many mansions when it comes to converging failures.

Camille Ammoun

Article

Afro-Iraqis, Climate Change, and Environmental Injustice in Basra

Afro-Iraqis experience political, economic, and social marginalization and discrimination, which exposes the poorest members of the community to the harsh realities of the region’s climate disaster.

Zeinab Shuker

Article

Kuwait’s Bidun in the Face of Climate Change are Invisible, yet Exposed

Mitigating the repercussions of climate change in Kuwait is crucial for lessening economic disparities and achieving social justice.

Courtney Freer

Paper

“Greening” the Maghreb or Exploiting It?

Unless the European Union-led energy transition provides economic development to Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, the process may be perceived as a new form of extraction.

Yasmine Zarhloule

Commentary

Diwan

Women, Water, and Adaptation in Ait Khabbash

The burden of environmental degradation is felt not only through physical labor but also emotional and social loss.

Yasmine Zarhloule, Ella Williams