Trucking Leaders From Louisiana, Kentucky See No Quick Changes Under New Governors

Trucking leaders in two states critical to freight transportation said they do not expect an immediate effect on their missions despite big political shifts in the governor’s mansions.

In Louisiana, John Bel Edwards becomes the state’s first Democratic governor in eight years. He was elected Nov. 21.

In Kentucky, Matt Bevin was elected the commonwealth’s first Republican governor in that same span Nov. 3.

John Bel Edwards

The current governors, Louisiana Republican Bobby Jindal and Kentucky Democrat Steve Beshear, were term-limited.

Bevin, a manufacturing executive, will be inaugurated Dec. 8 with Edwards following suit Jan. 16. Neither has appointed a transportation secretary yet.

“We’ve got a good relationship with the current governor, but it’s hard to say what the election means for trucking until we see the new governor’s cabinet,” Kentucky Motor Transport Association President Jamie Fiepke said. “I don’t expect that things will change very much, but you never know. Transportation wasn’t a big issue during the campaign.”

In Louisiana, Edwards’ victory didn’t come until a Nov. 21 runoff contest against U.S. Sen. David Vitter — who has announced that he will not run for re-election to the Senate in November 2016.

“Transportation is absolutely a priority that crosses party lines,” Louisiana Motor Transport Association Executive Director Cathy Gautreaux said, noting good relationships with the governor-elect and his chief of staff, state Sen. Ben Nevers.

“We look forward to working with the new administration,” she said.

Edwards is a lawyer who has been minority leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He is not related to Edwin Edwards, a famous, four-term Democratic governor of Louisiana who entered office in the 1970s.

LMTA also will deal with new leaders of the state House and Senate Transportation Committee chairs since the current occupants of those roles were term-limited.

“I told my board of directors that it’s going to be incumbent on them, and us, to meet these new leaders of all the committees that impact trucking, not only transportation,” Gautreaux said.

Fiepke believes a hot legislative session topic in Kentucky next year will be public-private partnerships, particularly for the long-proposed replacement for the decrepit Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River near Cincinnati. The subject was big during the past two sessions.

Kentucky is dealing with a $139.2 million funding shortfall for transportation during the current two-year budget cycle, which will end June 30, because of the huge drop in fuel prices.

“Everyone wants to build the bridge, but we haven’t figured out how to fund it,” said Fiepke, whose association opposes adding a toll to the bridge that will carry traffic on two of Kentucky’s most heavily trafficked truck routes, interstates 71 and 75.

The tax on diesel in Kentucky is 21.6 cents per gallon.

Transportation funding also is a major issue in Louisiana.

Edwards plans to call a special legislative session in February to begin dealing with the state’s financial troubles, which begin with a $487 million budget deficit.

“We would support increased fuel taxes,” said Gautreaux, whose members pay 20 cents per gallon in diesel taxes. “That’s the most efficient and fairest way to raise highway funding.”

She said fixing bottlenecks, such as the Interstate 10 bridge over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge and at the Port of New Orleans, are priorities, along with completing sections of I-49 near Shreveport in the north and near Lafayette in the south.

Gautreaux also said LMTA wants New Orleans to expand its port hours in order to remove trucks from heavy commuter traffic.