Missouri Could Come Out Ahead in Federal Highway Bill

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- MoDOT officials believe there's a chance Missouri may be able to come out just a little ahead of other states when it comes to funding from the new federal highway bill.

The $100 billion funding authorizations passed by Congress allots an $800 million share to Missouri. However, Missouri Department of Transportation legislative director Jay Wunderlich says programs inside the highway bill could lead to several million more dollars for the department.

"This is something that we think in years to come that Congress could actually distribute funds based upon how well a state measures up to other states on bridges or on safety -- whatever the funding source may be at that time."

Wunderlich says the highway bill will run for two years. After that, Congress is going to have to come up with a new funding source, because gas tax collections which fund cost highway projects, are dropping dramatically.

"In order to even balance out this highway bill that the just passed, they're going to have to have an injection of some additional revenues from general revenues to make it balanced."