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GoVERNOR GNBC

ABBOTT

October

20,2015

The

Honorable

Joe L. Barton

U.S.

Representative,

District 6

U.S. House

of

Representatives

2107

Rayburn

House Office

Building

Washington,

D.C.

20515

Dear

Congressman

Barton:

I

write today

to

ask

you

to

support

changes

to

the

surface

transportation

reauthorizafion

bill that

will

ensure

Texas

receives

its fair

share of

federal transportation

funding.

As

you

know,

relative

to

the transportation

taxes Texas

pays,

we

have

historically

received

a

disproportionately

small

share

of

federal

transportation

funding.

The days of

Texans

funding

projects in

Alaska,

California

and New

York

must come

to

an end.

As

Texas

experiences

historic

economic

growth

and sustained

prosperity

-

and

the

population

growth

that

accompanies

both

-

we

collectively

face

great

challenges

in

providing

a safe and

efficient

transportation

system

for the citizens

we

serve.

Our

vibrant economy

is attracting

top

companies

and

some

of

the

greatest

talent

in

the

nation.

As a

result,

Texas must

continue to

expand

its transportation

infrastructure.

Doing so

will help

ensure that

Texas remains

at

the

pinnacle

of

the U.S.

economy.

Working

with

our state

legislature,

I developed

long-term

transportation

funding

solutions that

dedicate

more

than

$4

billion

ayear

in

additional

state

transportation

dollars to

build more

roads

and improve

our existing

infrastructure

-

without

raising taxes,

fees,

tolls

or

debt.

Although

this

represents

a

giant

stride towards

ensuring that

Texas

has

the

best infrastructure

in

the

country,

our work

is

not

done.

Unfortunately,

Texas continues

to

be shortchanged

in

the

distribution

of

federal transportation

dollars

due

to

the

structural

inequality

in formulas

used for

distributing

federal aid

apportionments

and allocations

to

states

out

of

the

Highway

Trust

Fund account.

According to

the Federal

Highway

Administration,

Texas

remains the

only

donor

state and

received

only

95

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7/23/2019 U.S. GasTax AbbottLetterToCongress

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The

Honorable

Joe

L.

Barton

October

20,2015

Page2

cents back

for every

dollar

it sent to Washington

in federal

fuel

taxes

in Fiscal Year 2013

-

while

other states

received

the balance,

such

as

Alaska receiving

$6.01

and

New

York

receiving

$1.63

per dollar

paid.

This

inequity

amounts

to

millions of

dollars

each

year

and

forces

Texas

taxpayers

to

subsidize

the

infrastructure of other

states.

This

imbalance

weakens our

ability to

develop and

build

local

projects,

address

traffic

congestion,

move

freight

efficiently

actoss our

state and

maintain

the

infrastructure

our

citizens

deserve.

V/hile

our congressional

delegation

has

worked to

protect

our state's

dollars

and improve Texas'

rate

of

return

for many

years,

the days

of Texas taxpayers

.funding

projects

in

other

states must

come

to

an

end.

Vy'e owe it

to

our

taxpayers

to

begin a long-term focus

to ensure

that Texas

taxpayer

dollars

return

to

the

benefit of Texans.

Texas'

taxpayer

dollars should

be used

to

continue

building

Texas'

economic

growth

by addressing

Texas' transportation

needs.

As Congress

resumes

consideration

of

our

surface

transportation

programs,

I ask

that

you

work

with

your

colleagues

to

develop

afair,

equitable

and

logical

approach

to federal transportation

funding

that

does

not

shortchange

Texans.

Thank

you

for

your

consideration

of this

important

issue and

for

your

continued

service on

behalfofour

nation and

our state. Should

you

have

questions,

please feel

free

to

contact Jerry

Strickland,

Executive

Director of

the Office

of State-Federal

Relations,

at

(5I2)

463-4375.

Sincerely,

/^ 7

Greg

A

Governor

GA:cgk