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Posted: 11:23 PM Sep 11, 2008
Kansas Congressman Applauds Road Money Decision
U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, says restoring Highway Trust Fund money is especially good news for Kansas. He says the state relies on good roads for getting to work and transporting goods.
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1 Comments 
Washington will steer money for Kansas roads to the state after all.
The U.S. House joined the Senate Thursday in approving a measure to return $8 billion to the Highway Trust Fund.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran says Kansas gets roughly $365 million from it each year and was due to lose a third of that funding.
Moran says restoring the money is especially good news for Kansas, since it's a state where people drive longer distances to work and agriculture and manufacturing industries rely on roads to ship goods. Plus, he says Kansas' central location in the nation makes its roads a thoroughfare for the country's commerce. Moran says, from an economic stimulus standpoint, it's a longer-term fix than simply writing individuals $600 checks.
Moran is up for re-election in November. He faces libertarian Jack Warner.
Latest Comments
Just more of the same political games from a Washington establishment politician. What Jerry Moran doesn't tell the viewers is that the $8 billion shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund was taken from the general Treasury without any offsetting reductions in spending thereby increasing the national deficit. Several years ago, the Highway Trust Fund had a surplus and the decision was made to put most of the surplus into the Treasury to pay down the debt. Now, that same money has been transferred back to the Highway Trust Fund. I'm thinking this was really shortsighted on the part of those in Congress to have taken the money out in the first place as if they couldn't have anticipated that the continuing rise in oil prices would lead more Americans to drive less and switch to more fuel efficient cars thereby reducing gasoline tax revenues. If Congress really wanted to show some political courage it should have cut the number of road projects or increased the gas tax to pay for them.
