Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer recently signed a bill into law establishing the Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force.
The task force will have seven responsibilities. It will evaluate the state’s transportation system, the way it uses state highway funds, and the method it uses transportation funding to determine whether funding levels are sufficient. It will solicit local input on projects and identify additional transportation projects. Finally, it will make recommendations on the state’s future transportation system needs and the structure of the state highway fund.
Several organizations, including the AFL-CIO, the Kansas Economic Development Alliance, the Kansas Public Transit Association and SMART Transportation Division, will sit on the task force. It also will include representatives from state and local governments and three Kansas residents. They will formulate a 10-year plan for the state’s transportation system.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those legislators who supported this important step to building a vision for transportation in Kansas with labor at the table,” Kansas State Legislative Director Ty Dragoo said. “We greatly appreciate the assistance of all of those that voted in favor to pass the task force legislation.”
The task force must submit its reports to the Kansas legislature by Jan. 31.