Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is going public about how Congress plans on dealing with private investment in the future.
The Senate’s version of the next federal highway bill, a two-year measure, would remove privatized highways from the formula used to distribute highway funds to states. It would cost Indiana, which leased the Indiana Toll Road back in 2006, $42 million a year in federal funding for road and bridgework.
Daniels was in Washington on May 31 to meet with members of the House of Representatives and dispute the move.
“This is a state that gets screwed every year anyway [on federal highway funding]. Now they’d reduce it further,” said Daniels.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said Indiana should not have the opportunity to double-dip. He argued that Daniels sold the road for $3.8 billion and is still received federal funds to maintain the 157-mile highway.
Daniels countered with the fact that Indiana collected toll money from motorists and received money from the feds for years and nobody had a problem with it.
