[E]AST MONTPELIER — Against the backdrop of a crumbling bridge, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Vermont Transportation Secretary Sue Minter called on Congress to find a long-term solution for infrastructure funding Tuesday.
Federal highway funding is set to expire on July 31, marking the end of yet another stopgap transportation measure Congress passed this spring.
Now, Welch is part of a bipartisan effort calling for a little-used parliamentary technique to resolve the transportation funding impasse. The Democratic congressman wrote a letter to House leadership last month with Wisconsin Republican Rep. Reid Ribble.
At a news conference Tuesday at a deteriorating bridge at the junction of U.S. 2 and Vermont 14, Welch reiterated his support for using the so-called “Queen of the Hill” rule, which would allow Congress to vote on “a menu of options,” he said. The option that receives the most votes would pass.
According to Welch, the most popular proposal at present would use corporate repatriation — or revenue from overseas corporate earnings — to fund infrastructure. That solution would last for about five or six years, Welch said, which could serve as a “bridge” to a longer-term option.
A plan by President Barack Obama, as well as one by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were also mentioned at the news conference.
Welch said that he is open to any viable, long-term proposal.
“My preferred approach is not going to become the excuse for me not to do a sustainable approach,” Welch said.
Meanwhile, the impending expiration date has left Minter and other state officials scrambling to put together a contingency plan for how Vermont will pay for infrastructure projects already underway should the Congress allow the July 31 deadline to pass.
The replacement of the bridge in East Montpelier, which dates to 1936, is one of more than 40 infrastructure projects across Vermont that might be put on hold at the end of the month, according to Minter.
“Every day or week that we don’t move a project forward is a ripple effect to all the projects that are being planned,” Minter said.
The projects that would be put on hold have a collective estimated price tag of $136 million.
The state rates the East Montpelier bridge as “structurally deficient,” although bridge engineer Wayne Symonds assured the public that it is safe for traffic at this time. He said the bridge is inspected annually.
According to Minter, 7 percent of Vermont’s bridges earned the rating “structurally deficient” in 2014 — down from 19 percent in 2009. However, she said, that is still too many.
A project to replace the East Montpelier bridge is already underway, but if Congress fails to reauthorize the highway bill, the second phase of the project to reconstruct the bridge will stall out, Minter said.
