DOTD warns of long backlog, project delivery gaps; lawmakers press for transparency and equipment funding

BATON ROUGE — Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) leaders told the Senate Finance Committee the agency faces an $18.9 billion road‑and‑bridge backlog, a multi‑year set of debt and trust‑fund changes from recent sessions, and the need for continued capital and equipment investments to deliver projects and preserve the state system.

Carrie Couvillion of the Senate Fiscal Division presented DOTD’s FY26 recommended budget and explained the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) means of finance, statutory dedications and a recommended decline in FY26 compared with the current existing operating budget driven largely by nonrecurring carryforwards and capital outlay timing. She highlighted that roughly 79% of DOTD funds in the recommendation come from statutory and constitutional dedications tied to motor fuels and other fees; state general fund is a much smaller share of DOTD’s operating budget.

Couvillion and DOTD leadership walked senators through three timely items: the GARVEE program (bonded projects), a constitutional amendment and statutory changes affecting the motor vehicle license and vehicle sales taxes (Amendment 2 and related Act language flagged on the department slides), and the effect of earlier legislative and…