Two transportation amendments are on this Saturday’s ballot. Amendments 1 and 2 would allow existing state revenues to be used for new roads and bridges, and to repair existing ones, without creating new taxes.
No one is against better roads, bridges and other infrastructure. How to fund it is the issue. Amendment 1 would allow oil and gas revenue from the state’s "Rainy Day Fund" to be used for transportation projects.
Amendment 2 would fill up something called a state infrastructure bank. Greater New Orleans, Inc. CEO Michael Hecht says there’s no question that funding for this stuff should be a priority. “The public and the business community has come to realize that, just as much as having an adequate and well trained workforce is critical to future growth, having an adequate and well funded infrastructure is equally important.”
The New Orleans’ airport new terminal is slated to open in 2017. Hecht says travelers and workers will need to be able to get to it more easily. “But we’re gonna need a flyover from I-10 to get people from the airport to the terminal without needing to drop over to Veterans Boulevard. And locally there’s a lot of talk about a light rail. With the new airport, how are folks gonna get there from, for instance, downtown NOLA?”, Hecht asks.
GNO Inc. isn’t taking a stance on Amendment 1, the oil and gas funding. The group is supporting Amendment 2. That would authorize funds for Louisiana’s infrastructure bank. Hecht says states like Texas and Virginia have had success with this. It’s a place to put money that is currently "idle" and make it available as loans for local transportation.
“Right now it’s just a bucket waiting to be filled up,” explains Hecht. “So this would be about how we can start filling up the bucket by getting an appropriation that the treasurer could then allocate to the local parishes.” He says Amendment 2, for example, could provide a loan to the City of Kenner to build airport roads.
Both Amendments 1 and 2 specify funds be used only for transportation.