• Subscribe
    • Franklin Living Magazine
    • Services
      • About Us
      • Subscribe
      • Policies
      • Terms of use
      • Submit a news tip
      • Submit a photo
      • Birth announcement
      • Birthday announcement
      • Engagement announcement
      • Wedding announcement
      • Submit a Classified Ad
      • Letter to the Editor
    • Classifieds
    • E-editions
    • Public Notices
      • Public Notices
      • Alabama Public Notices
    • Subscribe
    • Franklin Living Magazine
    • Services
      • About Us
      • Subscribe
      • Policies
      • Terms of use
      • Submit a news tip
      • Submit a photo
      • Birth announcement
      • Birthday announcement
      • Engagement announcement
      • Wedding announcement
      • Submit a Classified Ad
      • Letter to the Editor
    • Classifieds
    • E-editions
    • Public Notices
      • Public Notices
      • Alabama Public Notices

Franklin County Times
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyles
  • Obituaries
  • Records
  • Subscribe
  • Services
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Policies
  • Terms of use
  • Submit a news tip
  • Submit a photo
  • Birth Announcement
  • Birthday announcement
  • Engagement announcement
  • Wedding announcement
  • Submit a Classified Ad
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Classifieds
  • Public Notices
    Franklin County Times
      • Site logo
      • Home
      • News
        • Russellville
        • Red Bay
        • Phil Campbell
        • Franklin County
        • Photo Galleries
        • Sponsored Content
      • Sports
        • Belgreen Bulldogs
        • Phil Campbell Bobcats
        • Red Bay Tigers
        • Russellville Golden Tigers
        • Tharptown Wildcats
        • Vina Red Devils
        • College Sports
        • Sports Columnists
      • Opinion
        • Letters to the Editor
        • Columnists
        • Editorials
      • Lifestyles
        • Birthdays
        • Births
        • Couples
        • Food
        • Features
      • Obituaries
      • Records
        • Sheriff’s Report
        • Marriages
        • Land Transactions
        • Police Reports
      • Special Sections
      • Site logo
      • Home
      • News
        • Russellville
        • Red Bay
        • Phil Campbell
        • Franklin County
        • Photo Galleries
        • Sponsored Content
      • Sports
        • Belgreen Bulldogs
        • Phil Campbell Bobcats
        • Red Bay Tigers
        • Russellville Golden Tigers
        • Tharptown Wildcats
        • Vina Red Devils
        • College Sports
        • Sports Columnists
      • Opinion
        • Letters to the Editor
        • Columnists
        • Editorials
      • Lifestyles
        • Birthdays
        • Births
        • Couples
        • Food
        • Features
      • Obituaries
      • Records
        • Sheriff’s Report
        • Marriages
        • Land Transactions
        • Police Reports
      • Special Sections
    Archives
     By  Staff Reports Published 
    3:13 am Saturday, June 19, 2004

    Lives and jobs

    By Staff
    June 19, 2004
    Good roads, railways, bridges and airports save lives and create jobs. As one of the conferees charged with reconciling the respective Senate and House versions of a highway bill which will set the nation's transportation policy for the next six years, I'm pushing very hard to shape this legislation into a law fair for Mississippi's taxpayers.
    With lives and jobs at stake, Congress should pass this bill before we adjourn. Few things, aside from national defense, take higher priority than the federal government's obligation to transportation.
    One of my top priorities in this highway conference is to increase our state's reimbursement from the National Highway Trust Fund, which is fed by your gasoline taxes. Every gas tax dollar paid nationally at the pump goes to Washington.
    Donor state
    Mississippi is a "donor" state because Mississippi only gets a portion of each gas tax dollar back to build, repair or improve our highways. In 1998 when the last six-year transportation bill was passed a bill called the "Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century" or "TEA-21" I was able to increase Mississippi's gas tax reimbursement from about 84 percent to almost 91 percent.
    This time, I'm working to increase this return to 95 percent or as close as possible by the new bill's expiration.
    The historic reasons for Mississippi being a donor state vary. Basically the rationale went something like this: States with big populations and a lot of roads and vehicles need more money than they contribute in order to meet their high-volume transportation needs.
    Ironically, states with big land masses and small, scattered, populations argue that their small gas tax collections and vast road distances mean they can't possibly meet their transportation needs without taking more from the trust fund than they give.
    So, what we have is a strange alignment of high population states, mostly in the Northeast, and low-population states, mostly in the West, getting back many more gas tax dollars than they contribute.
    This is unfair to states like Mississippi. Our state remains poor. It's not right to ask financially struggling Mississippians to subsidize roads in states like New York, New Jersey, South Dakota or Pennsylvania. The federal funding formula for the Highway Trust Fund must be more fair to Mississippi, a state struggling to create jobs and overcome historic poverty.
    Highways, bridges and airports provide the essential foundation for economic development and job growth, giving folks in poverty more opportunity and more hope. Mississippi received about $2 billion in federal highway formula funds between 1998 and 2003, and we're poised to get much more if Congressman Chip Pickering and I, as conferees on this legislation, can preserve the increase for donor states provision contained in the Senate version of this latest highway bill.
    Diesel fuel tax
    I'm also working to repeal the 4.3 cents-per-gallon federal tax on diesel fuel paid by railroads and those who operate barges on inland waterways. Since December of 1990, freight railroads and barge operators have paid this tax as part of a "deficit reduction" plan.
    Similar taxes paid by airlines and truck operators were redirected in 1997. Since then, railroads and barge operators have been the only industries paying the "deficit reduction" fuel tax, adding to their costs and harming businesses who rely on them to remain healthy and create jobs.
    A final priority for this bill is to keep Congressional spending in check. I'm very concerned with Congress' spendthrift ways of late. We cannot let this very important bill get too bloated with items that could dilute the bill's basic purpose, which is to provide the groundwork for all federal transportation policy for the next six years.
    I know that increasing Mississippi's share of highway funds, curtailing unfair taxes and controlling spending is a tall order, but every transportation bill Congress considers has the capacity to save lives and create new jobs. It's a responsibility Congress and the President must never take lightly. It's a promise that we must always keep.
    Contact Sen. Trent Lott at 487 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510.

    Also on Franklin County Times
    Belgreen’s Moore earns First Team All-State honors
    Belgreen Bulldogs, Sports
    Belgreen’s Moore earns First Team All-State honors
    María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
    June 18, 2025
    BELGREEN -- Jemma Moore has been named to the AHSAA First Team All-State for softball, becoming just the ninth player in school history to earn the di...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}{"newsletter":"Newsletter"}
    Ex-day care worker found guilty of manslaughter
    Main, News, Russellville, ...
    Ex-day care worker found guilty of manslaughter
    Bernie Delinski For the FCT 
    June 18, 2025
    RUSSELLVILLE — Gasps of relief and joy came from family members of Autumn Wells when Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Brian P. Hamilton read the ve...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}{"newsletter":"Newsletter"}
    Maddox retires after 26 years of shaping young minds at RMS
    News, Russellville, Russellville Golden Tigers
    Maddox retires after 26 years of shaping young minds at RMS
    maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
    June 18, 2025
    R U S S E L L V I L L E -- Teaching for Diane Maddox has never been just about grammar rules or reading comprehension, but rather about connection, cr...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}
    Reynolds rebounds from knee injury, excels in baseball
    High School Sports, Red Bay Tigers, Sports
    Reynolds rebounds from knee injury, excels in baseball
    By A. Stacy Long For the FCT 
    June 18, 2025
    REDBAY--TyReynolds hasn’t picked out the spot yet, but promises it will be a place of prominence, a semi-shrine for one item that shaped so much of hi...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}{"newsletter":"Newsletter"}
    Man faces drug trafficking charge
    Main, News, Phil Campbell
    Man faces drug trafficking charge
    Kevin Taylor For the FCT 
    June 18, 2025
    PHIL CAMPBELL — A resident is facing multiple drug charges, including drug trafficking, after law enforcement confiscated eight firearms and at least ...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}
    Russellville Library kicks off summer with ‘Color Our World’
    News, Russellville
    Russellville Library kicks off summer with ‘Color Our World’
    María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
    June 18, 2025
    RUSSELLVILLE -- The public library launched its 2025 summer reading program, “Color Our World,” with a fun-filled kickoff event on Friday. Children re...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}
    Fostering a need: Donation of $1,260 helps needy Franklin County children
    Columnists, News, Opinion
    HERE AND NOW
    Fostering a need: Donation of $1,260 helps needy Franklin County children
    June 18, 2025
    Foster children often enter care with few, if any, belongings. In Franklin County right now, there are 75 children in foster care. And with the backto...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}
    Most snakes are more friend than foe
    Lifestyles
    Most snakes are more friend than foe
    María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
    June 18, 2025
    SPRUCE PINE -- When naturalist Joel Pounders sees his four-year-old grandson, Koda McNutt, holding a smooth earth snake (harmless and fully grown at j...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    ❮ ❯
    Latest Local News
    Ex-day care worker found guilty of manslaughter
    Ex-day care worker found guilty of manslaughter
    RUSSELLVILLE — Gasps of relief and joy came from family members of Autumn Wells when Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Brian P. Hamilton read the ve...
    June 18, 2025
    Maddox retires after 26 years of shaping young minds at RMS
    Maddox retires after 26 years of shaping young minds at RMS
    R U S S E L L V I L L E -- Teaching for Diane Maddox has never been just about grammar rules or reading comprehension, but rather about connection, cr...
    June 18, 2025
    Evening at the Roxy with Great Pretenders returns July 17
    Local talent will take center stage at the Historic Roxy Theatre on July 17 during the annual “Evening at the Roxy with the Great Pretenders.” The sho...
    June 18, 2025
    Man faces drug trafficking charge
    Man faces drug trafficking charge
    PHIL CAMPBELL — A resident is facing multiple drug charges, including drug trafficking, after law enforcement confiscated eight firearms and at least ...
    June 18, 2025
    Russellville Library kicks off summer with ‘Color Our World’
    Russellville Library kicks off summer with ‘Color Our World’
    RUSSELLVILLE -- The public library launched its 2025 summer reading program, “Color Our World,” with a fun-filled kickoff event on Friday. Children re...
    June 18, 2025

    More Local News

    Latest Stories
    Land Transactions
    May 13 • James K Barlow, Christina Garcia, Amanda Conrad, Clara Lane Conrad and Brenda Denise Ray to Ellis and Michelle Wooten, survivorship • Makensy...
    June 18, 2025
    Evening at the Roxy with Great Pretenders returns July 17
    Local talent will take center stage at the Historic Roxy Theatre on July 17 during the annual “Evening at the Roxy with the Great Pretenders.” The sho...
    June 18, 2025
    Calendar Of Events
    June 20-21 – Phil Campbell Festival: The Phil Campbell Festival takes placeJune20-21atMemorial Park downtown. Friday kicks off the entertainment with ...
    June 18, 2025
    ‘Sky’s the limit’ for Phil Campbell aviation program
    ‘Sky’s the limit’ for Phil Campbell aviation program
    PHIL CAMPBELL — Students at Phil Campbell High School recently had an unforgettable learning experience — one that lifted their studies to new heights...
    June 18, 2025
    Confronting the escalating threat of antisemitism
    Confronting the escalating threat of antisemitism
    Oct. 7, 2023, didn’t happen in a vacuum. The effects of the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history reverberated across the globe, and this evi...
    June 18, 2025
    Latest Sports
    Belgreen’s Moore earns First Team All-State honors
    Belgreen’s Moore earns First Team All-State honors
    BELGREEN -- Jemma Moore has been named to the AHSAA First Team All-State for softball, becoming just the ninth player in school history to earn the di...
    June 18, 2025
    Maddox retires after 26 years of shaping young minds at RMS
    Maddox retires after 26 years of shaping young minds at RMS
    R U S S E L L V I L L E -- Teaching for Diane Maddox has never been just about grammar rules or reading comprehension, but rather about connection, cr...
    June 18, 2025
    Reynolds rebounds from knee injury, excels in baseball
    Reynolds rebounds from knee injury, excels in baseball
    REDBAY--TyReynolds hasn’t picked out the spot yet, but promises it will be a place of prominence, a semi-shrine for one item that shaped so much of hi...
    June 18, 2025
    ‘Sky’s the limit’ for Phil Campbell aviation program
    ‘Sky’s the limit’ for Phil Campbell aviation program
    PHIL CAMPBELL — Students at Phil Campbell High School recently had an unforgettable learning experience — one that lifted their studies to new heights...
    June 18, 2025
    Tournament raises $1,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation
    Tournament raises $1,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation
    Let us share your photos. Information should include the names of all people in the photo, the name of the photographer, and a brief explanation of th...
    June 11, 2025

    More Sports Stories

    x

    Sections

    • Home
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyles
    • Obits
    • Special Sections
    • Sponsored Content
      • Home
      • News
      • Sports
      • Opinion
      • Lifestyles
      • Obits
      • Special Sections
      • Sponsored Content

    Services

    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise With Us
    • Policies
    • Terms of use
    • Submit a news tip
    • Submit a photo
    • Birth announcement
    • Birthday announcement
    • Engagement announcement
    • Wedding announcement
    • Submit a Classified Ad
    • Letter to the Editor
    • Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter
      • About Us
      • Subscribe
      • Advertise With Us
      • Policies
      • Terms of use
      • Submit a news tip
      • Submit a photo
      • Birth announcement
      • Birthday announcement
      • Engagement announcement
      • Wedding announcement
      • Submit a Classified Ad
      • Letter to the Editor
      • Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter

    Follow Us

    Copyright

    © , Franklin County Times