Senate Transportation hears House leaders on T bill as committee seeks options for shrinking revenue

Senate Transportation convened a joint discussion with House Transportation leaders to review the House's transportation budget bill and related policy changes, with members foregrounding a long-term transportation revenue shortfall and several policy shifts aimed at stabilizing town and state project funding.

Committee leaders said the bill includes a change to how towns receive money for class 2 town highway structures: the allocation will be adjusted each year by the same inflation measure used in the Town Highway 80 program so amounts can rise automatically with CPI and transportation revenue rather than reverting to a baseline and requiring annual increases. "That this way, there'll at least be a review of it every year," a House committee leader said, adding the committee's fiscal office estimated compounding increases would put towns "substantially ahead" within a couple years.

The change is intended to help towns that face the same rising construction costs and contractor shortages as the state. Committee members stressed it is not a full solution to larger funding gaps. "The revenue outlook is pretty bleak," one House member said, noting a projected near-term shortfall. Senators and representatives discussed multiple revenue avenues, including adjusting gasoline and diesel…