HCR 47, Resolution creating Missouri Transportation Funding Task Force, passes unanimously in Missouri Senate; MoBikeFed & allies working to ensure bicycling & walking included in solutions

Today House Continuing Resolution 47, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Corlew of Kansas City, passed the Missouri Senate by a vote of 33-0.

Your calls and email messages to our legislators in Jefferson City, and Capitol Day visits, make a huge difference

HCR 47 creates a statewide task force to study the issue of transportation funding in Missouri and to present recommendations to the Missouri General Assembly and the Governor in time for the 2018 legislative session.

MoBikeFed and our allied groups across the state have worked hard to ensure the HCR 47 was about transportation funding in Missouri--not just highway funding.

Highways are, of course, an important part of Missouri's transportation picture.  But funding for good, safe places for Missourians to walk and bicycle are just as important, as is funding for public transportation in Missouri.

The original version of HCR 47 was focused on highway funding only.  After testimony and discussion with Rep. Corlew by MoBikeFed and our allies from across the state on this issue, the updated version of the resolution was more broadly worded to include all types of transportation funding.

Walking, bicycling, and public transportation have all been neglected in Missouri's transportation funding plan for decades--far more so than even the overall MoDOT funding picture.  MoDOT funding has not been increase since 1996--a period of 21 years.

How HCR 47 will be implemented: A statewide transportation funding Task Force

HCR 47 has now passed both the House and the Senate. The Resolution now passes into effect, because no Governor's signature is required for Resolutions.

Within the next few weeks, a Task Force appointed to make recommendations on the issue of Missouri transportation funding for the 2017 legislative session. The Speaker of the House, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, and the Governor will each appoint three citizens to the Task Force.  In addition, representatives of the House, the Senate, and various executive departments will be represented on the committee.

We will be working on behalf of our members and supports, and the millions of Missourians who walk and bicycle regularly, to ensure that Missourians who walk and bicycle are represented on the Task Force and that the recommendations of the Task Force take into consideration the needs and the safety of people who walk and bicycle.

Senate debate on HCR 47 and Missouri transportation funding today

All Senators who spoke today were supportive of modest increases in the fuel tax, which has not been raised in Missouri for 21 years.  However, they pointed out that the House defeated a similar proposal last year and no one is certain where the Governor stands.

There was also considerable discussion about including an automatic annual inflation adjustment on any fuel tax increase, so that that continual small adjustments are not needed simply to maintain the status quo of funding.  (Since the fuel tax is per gallon rather than a percentage of the cost of fuel, the purchasing power of the tax goes down each year in concert with inflation.)

The Task Force is designed to help build concensus among all of these groups for whatever solution the Task Force proposes.

Senator Doug Libla of Poplar Bluff, who has been working to address the state transportation funding issue for several years, pointed out that the Missouri fuel tax would be about 25 cents/gallon now--rather than the current 17.4 cents/gallon--if it had been adjusted for inflation annually.  He also pointed out that a two cent per gallon fuel tax increase would only cost the typical Missourian about $5-$6 per year.

More information on HCR 47

Bill page & full text for HCR 47.

Working to create a world-class transportation system for walking and bicycling and improve safety for all who use our states roads--including people who walk and bicycle--is a key goal of our Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri.

We have been working for many years to ensure that complete, connected, and safe facilities for people who walk and bicycle are included as part of any proposed Missouri transportation funding solution. Walking and bicycling have for too long gone un-funded in Missouri.

Our work with the Missouri General Assembly and our annual Legislative Platform are an important in helping us reaching those goals. Between 1995 and 2016, new fewer than fifty-two of the proposals that we have supported or opposed in our Legislative Platform have been approved or defeated, respectively.

Your ongoing membership and generous financial support help turn our Vision into reality, and turn our Legislative Platform into law!