State lawmakers are due back in Raleigh next week to vote on an omnibus coronavirus response bill. A last-minute change to that bill would give the state Department of Transportation a little bit of financial breathing room.
Members of the House Select Committee on COVID-19 voted Thursday afternoon to reduce the amount of cash the DOT is legally required to keep on hand.
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That "cash floor" has been set for some time at $300 million. The change would lower that requirement to $125 million for a period of one year.
Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, said the change would "give them $175 million availability right now."
However, Torbett said, it won't solve the problem of plunging revenue from the gas tax, the highway use tax that's part of a car's sale price, and Division of Motor Vehicles fees.
He told the committee the DOT's estimated $28 million loss in April gas taxes is now expected to be a $45 million loss. May's loss in gas tax revenue is now predicted to be around $90 million, with June's loss around $80 million.
Car sales and DMV fees and fines are also down dramatically, Torbett told the panel, and those three things are the only sources of revenue the DOT has.
"Will [lowering the cash floor] keep them from going to zero?" he said. "Unless we take other actions in the coming weeks and months, I don’t believe it will."
On Tuesday, the DOT announced layoffs of temporary and contract workers, and project delays are being put into place this week because of a projected $300 million shortfall this fiscal year.
The House is working with the Senate and Gov. Roy Cooper to craft a bill that they can pass quickly next week with bipartisan support and little debate. The House will begin consideration of the bill on Tuesday.