Idaho AGC Helps Pave the Way for Major 2021 Highway Funding Package New legislation adds $126 million in one-time funds, $80 million in annual funding for transportation By Peter Jensen
PHOTOS COURTESY OF IDAHO TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
By approving a revenue package this spring that could result in up to $1.6 billion in bond funding for transportation, the Idaho Legislature has enacted the dawn of a new day for roads projects throughout the state.
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he smooth operation of America’s political institutions relies on compromises in the same way cars rely on gasoline. But neither cars nor political compromises will get very far without a road to travel on. In politics, that’s why it’s critical for coalitions to help lay the groundwork that forges a path to successful compromise — and to keep well-intended negotiations from running headlong into a ditch. The most recent session of the Idaho 34 BUILDING IDAHO • 2021 FALL/WINTER
For more than a decade, lawmakers have known that Idaho was falling hundreds of millions of dollars short in annual transportation funding needs The package approved in 2021 covers the majority of the identified need.
Legislature provided a resounding example of this lesson. Lawmakers approved and Gov. Brad Little signed a transportation funding package that will infuse millions of new dollars every year into Idaho’s network of roads, bridges, and highways. The package adds $126 million in one-time surplus funding this year, and then will supply $80 million every year after that. With these new revenue sources, the state can use its strong credit rating to secure bond funding up to $1.6 billion, and come close to fully addressing
the $262 million that’s needed annually to preserve the existing transportation network, according to a 2020 Boise State University study. Idaho Associated General Contractors helped form and lead the coalition to secure the funding package’s approval in the Legislature, said CEO Wayne Hammon. Crucially, the package relies on existing sales tax revenue sources — so it does not require any tax hikes. He said AGC aided the coalition by helping to produce the Boise State
