What's happening
This bill requires annual adjustment of highway funding appropriations based on the national highway construction cost index to account for inflation.
Why it matters
Ensures highway funding keeps pace with real-world construction costs. , reducing the risk of underfunded maintenance or delayed infrastructure projects due to inflation.
Provides greater financial predictability for local governments. (counties, cities, towns, and villages), enabling them to plan and budget for road repairs and upgrades more accurately.
Links funding increases specifically to the national highway construction cost index. , a targeted measure that reflects the actual price changes in highway materials and labor, making adjustments more relevant than general inflation measures.
Could help preserve road quality and public safety over time. by minimizing the erosion of purchasing power that would otherwise diminish the effectiveness of state highway appropriations.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Tie Road Funding to Inflation
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3546
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 8, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the highway law, in relation to indexing appropriations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 10-c of the highway law, as amended by chapter 355 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
2. On or before the twenty-fifth day of April, June, September and November of each state fiscal year commencing with the state fiscal year beginning on April first, nineteen hundred eighty-four there shall be distributed and paid to counties, cities, towns and villages an amount equal to the moneys appropriated for the purposes of this section divided by the number of payment dates in that state fiscal year. Such amounts shall be distributed and paid pursuant to subdivision three of this section. Provided, however, that on and after January first, two thousand twenty-one and on each following January first, the commissioner shall index the level of such appropriations for subsequent state fiscal years based on the national highway construction cost index for the most recent twelve month period. The commissioner shall increase appropriations by the rate of inflation for the most recent twelve month period that is available at the time the adjusted rate is calculated and announced using the national highway construction cost index, or a successor index as calculated by the United States federal highway administration, if such rate of inflation is greater than zero percent.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02041-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the highway law, in relation to indexing appropriations
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1: Amends Subdivision 2 of section 10-c of the highway law, to provide for indexing of the consolidated highway improvement program appropriation for subsequent state fiscal years based on the national highway construction cost index for the most recent twelve month period.
Purpose and justification
Cost increases are inevitable and do not discriminate against individ- uals or industries. This reality is particularly true in the highway construction industry, where the price of materials and the fuel neces- sary to deliver them have skyrocketed in recent years. While we received an increase in the State's funding for municipal road and bridge projects in recent years, traditionally these fund have not kept pace with increasing costs and deteriorating municipal infrastructure.
In order to address this issue and provide our municipal superintendents and highway crews with the sufficient resources necessary to maintain safe roads and bridges across New York State, we need to fashion our funding formulas and mechanisms to reflect these inevitable increases. By indexing the amount of money we dedicate to our infrastructure each year to inflation, we can more accurately determine the appropriate amount of resources necessary to maintain and improve our infrastruc- ture.
Prior legislative history
2018-18: S.668 Referred to Transportation 2015-16: Referred to Transportation 2014: REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.