Distant Dome: Ayotte's Veto Of Highway Plan Sets Off Lawmakers

By GARRY RAYNO, Distant Dome, InDepth NH

Historically, there are two things a governor can do that really pisses off lawmakers, veto a hard-fought budget deal or the state’s 10-Year Highway Improvement Plan.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte did not veto the budget, although she had a number of concerns about the plan, but she did veto the state’s 10-Year Highway Improvement Plan, which set off a late round of fireworks from both sides of the aisle Friday.

The highway improvement plan is one of those bills that often passes by large majorities with little controversy or partisan bickering.

The plan is updated every two years in the non-budget year but the process begins the year before with regional planning commissions and municipalities presenting their wish lists which ultimately are trimmed down to the even less than essential projects that need to move forward to maintain the state’s highway system in if not working order, at least passable.

Once the regional work is done the Governor’s Commission on Intermodal Transportation holds public hearings around the state. The commission consists of the five executive councilors and the governor’s representative, usually the Department of Transportation Commissioner.

The commission makes its recommendation and then sends it to the governor who makes her recommendation, which in this year’s case was not to change the plan at all, and it is sent to the House where the Public Works and Transportation Committee crafts its proposed plan.

Once it passes the House, the Senate Transportation Committee does its work and the Senate passes its version which will be reconciled with the House’s.

By the time the bill goes back to the governor for her final action, there is something in it for everyone: that old bridge that needs to be rebuilt, the crumbling sidewalks and major projects like I-93 expansion from the I-89 junction through Concord so it is not a parking lot on summer weekends, Columbus Day weekend and winter vacation weeks.

It also puts New Hampshire people to work constructing roads and bridges as well as funding small airports and bus stations, etc.

The 10-year program has been constrained for some time largely due to the legislature’s failure to increase the gas tax or the road tolls along the interstate highways, a job that once belonged to the Executive Council.

The legislature did approve a gas tax increase of 4.2 cents that went into effect July 1, 2014, but the additional money was mostly sucked up by the expansion of I-93 between Salem and Manchester.

Lawmakers 10 years ago approved a $200 million federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to cover costs for local cities and towns as well as other state road and bridge projects so the I-93 expansion would not diminish state aid for local highway projects.

Until this year, the state was paying interest on the loan, but had to begin paying the principle this year. The difference is between $2 million a year and $23 million a year.

The last time the turnpike toll rates were increased was in 2007 when the Executive Council approved the increase.

A bill to double the toll rates for out-of-state drivers and New Hampshire residents without E-ZPass transponders was approved by the Senate and the House, after it overrode its Ways and Means Committee, which wanted to study it for a year, sending it to Ayotte’s desk.

The bill would have produced an additional $340 million to $400 million a year for the state and federal highway systems.

The state does not raise enough turnpike money to match the available federal funds and uses state credits for maintaining the federal turnpikes as a match instead.

The federal highway money for matching state and local road projects was reduced in the latest federal budget, but the state does not have enough money to match all that is available for highway projects.

Ayotte did not keep secret her opposition to the toll increase, and when she vetoed Senate Bill 627, she said “I have clearly said that I do not support raising the tolls. I will continue to focus on making New Hampshire more affordable for all and a destination for tourists in the region.”

She used the same statement when she vetoed House Bill 2026 Friday.

What the additional money from the toll increase allowed lawmakers to do was to add three key turnpike projects to the 10-year plan that have been awaiting their place at the front of the queue for a decade or more.

Two of the projects had been included in the plan approved by the governor’s commission, but were quickly removed by the House Public Works and Highways Committee because there was not enough money to begin work.

The projects were to expand exits 6 and 7 on I-293 in Manchester.

Anyone who tries to exit or enter the turnpike off of the Amoskeag Circle knows you have to take a deep breath, watch all your mirrors at once, be ready to dart into any little space available, or to slam on your brakes, but most importantly, to pray to either get off or on I-293 northbound or southbound.

And at busy times of the day the traffic backs up on the turnpike and the feeder roads leading into the circle.

That project is expected to cost $232 million.

Waiting at least as long for a solution is the stretch of I-93 from the junction of I-89 to past exit 15 which is projected to cost $370 million.

That section of I-93 is a large parking lot on Friday and Sunday afternoons into the evening during the summer, and on race day at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Columbus Day weekend is another trying time getting through the capital city as are weekends when the skiing is good like last winter.

The backup through the city in the summer can stretch back past the Hooksett tolls creating stop and go traffic for as far as the eye can see.

That part about a destination for tourists for the region the governor mentioned in her veto messages would be a lot more attractive without the backups through the capital city.

What did members of her own party say about her veto?

State Sen. Senator Mark McConkey, R-Freedom, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, called the governor’s veto “an unprecedented action that creates unnecessary uncertainty for communities, businesses, and infrastructure projects across our state.”

The last governor to veto the 10-year highway plan was Craig Benson in 2004, and he was voted out of office after one term.

Deputy House Speaker Steven Smith, R-Charlestown, who is a former chair of the House Transportation Committee, said historically the 10-year plan is an exercise in bipartisanship that delivered millions of dollars into the state transportation infrastructure.

“The governor’s veto of HB 2026 is short-sighted and puts critical transportation projects across New Hampshire at risk,” Smith said. “Rejecting the entire plan delays needed investments and leaves our state's aging infrastructure waiting even longer.”

Smith added the projects would have been funded through dedicated turnpike revenues, not by increasing taxes on the people of New Hampshire.

Rep. John Cloutier, D-Claremont, the ranking member of the House Public Works and Highways Committee, said the governor’s veto puts politics ahead of public safety and New Hampshire’s economic future.

He said the plan provides the long-term certainty needed to repair aging roads and bridges, modernize critical infrastructure, and keep transportation projects moving in communities across the state.

“Rejecting this plan creates unnecessary uncertainty, delays projects that communities are counting on, and jeopardizes New Hampshire's ability to maximize available federal transportation funding,” Cloutier said. “Safe roads, reliable bridges, and strong infrastructure should never become political bargaining chips.”

What could Ayotte have done instead of vetoing the bill?

She could have told her Department of Transportation Commissioner to slow walk the work on the three major projects approved in the bill so the expenses go into the future long after she is out of office.

That would have allowed the other projects in the plan that need to be done to go forward.

If the House and Senate fail to override her veto, which is likely, there is nothing in law that allows the work to go forward and would revert to the plan passed two years ago, which was underfunded as well as transportation officials stopped funding for several projects in that plan because they did not have the money.

The better strategy may be to push to override her veto of the toll increase and then attempt to override the veto of the 10-year highway plan. If that fails, lawmakers should have something stripped down ready to go in January so another construction season is not lost fixing roads and bridges, which everybody wants.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

Distant Dome by veteran journalist Garry Rayno explores a broader perspective on the State House and state happenings for InDepthNH.org. Over his three-decade career, Rayno covered the NH State House for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Foster’s Daily Democrat. During his career, his coverage spanned the news spectrum, from local planning, school and select boards, to national issues such as electric industry deregulation and Presidential primaries. Rayno lives with his wife Carolyn and their two rescue dogs.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.