Rep. Jett hopes governor will aggressively tackle highway and other road issues in Arkansas

Arkansas highways, city streets, bridges, and county roads need expansions and upgrades and the funding formula needs to be revamped, Rep. Joe Jett, R-Success, told Talk Business & Politics. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has not unveiled his highway plan and has spent most of his time wrangling with legislators over tax cuts and medical marijuana. If the governor’s plan isn’t comprehensive enough, Jett has filed a placeholder bill that the language can be amended or stripped out to accommodate an alternative plan.

But Jett hopes it won’t go that far.

“It’s a Plan B,” Jett said. “I fully intend to support what Gov. Hutchinson proposes … there are underlying issues that need to be addressed. We have to come up with a plan.”

The way Arkansas pays for roads improvements is antiquated, Jett said. The funding formula was developed in the late 1980s and has remained largely unchanged, he said. Each year Arkansas spends about $50 million on road projects, and the federal government doles out about $200 million.

Prices for materials used in road construction such as concrete, asphalt, steel and others, have steadily increased through the years, Jett said. He estimates material prices have inflated by about 3.2% annually since 1978. Lawmakers often ask voters to increase sales taxes to pay for roads, and that’s not always the best solution either, Jett said.

Several months ago Jett developed a plan that ties wholesale fuel prices to road construction materials costs. If those material costs inflate 1%, then the wholesale cost of fuel would rise by 1%, and predictably that cost spike would be passed on to customers at the pump, he said.

“It’s basically a user fee … the people who use the roads pay for them,” he said.

If legislators like his idea, a formula or methodology would have to be developed for calculating inflation. An example might be a three-year index average, Jett said. Other issues could be shifts in material prices themselves. Steel might be up one year while oil prices might be down. Using a multi-year average should provide a more tenable baseline to operate from, he contends.

Road funding issues are looming and President Donald Trump has pledged to unveil a sweeping infrastructure revitalization program across the country. It could mean more money for Arkansas highways, but nothing has happened, yet, Jett said.

A half-cent sales tax approved by voters to help fund roads will expire in 2021. The tax is divided among the state, counties, and cities. The state receives 70%, while counties and cities receive 15% apiece. If nothing changes, local governments and the state will lose millions of dollars in just a few years, he said.

“Once that money goes away, you’re going to see serious budget cuts,” said Jett.

He argues that developing the road and highway systems in the state is critical to future economic prosperity. Companies want to locate industries in states with viable transportation systems, he said. Money spent on roads is an investment in the state’s economic future, and the drivers utilizing those roads should bare the brunt of the burden, he said.

“Until we fix the underlying problem, we are going to have to keep pouring money into our highways,” Jett said. “This seems like the fairest way to do it … I think the governor takes this issue very seriously.”