Methodology
This report is based on original survey research; legal and legislative research; a literature review; and expert interviews, including a conference call with the National League of Cities and select constituents.
The methodology included four surveys (Appendix B contains the full text of the survey instruments). Surveys 1 and 2 were distributed to DOT personnel and legislative staff members in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to gather factual information about transportation finance and governance in each jurisdiction. After extensive, targeted follow-up by NCSL staff, responses to Survey 1 (on transportation funding and finance) were received from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Responses to Survey 2 (on executive-legislative roles) were received from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Survey 3 allowed state legislators and DOT executives to anonymously share their experiences and thoughts about interactions between the DOT and the legislature in their respective states. After follow-up from NCSL and AASHTO staff, 30 legislators and 26 DOT officials responded. Key findings from this survey are incorporated throughout the report to provide added perspective on how DOT-legislative interactions are perceived in practice. Although the small sample size limits the ability to draw conclusions from-or engage in broader interpretation of-the results of this survey, the data are at least suggestive of underlying trends and opinions and may be worthy of further examination.
Survey 4 was a short set of questions distributed through the National Legislative Program Evaluation Society (NLPES) listserv, asking for information about legislative program evaluations and audits of state DOTs. Eight states-Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia-responded to this survey.
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Key Survey Finding: Only 12 percent of DOT officials surveyed-compared to nearly half of responding legislators-disagreed with a statement that the balance of power is appropriate between the DOT and the legislature in their state. Note: See text on this page for a description of this survey's methodology and data limitations. There is an appropriate balance of power in my state between the DOT and the legislature.
Data expressed in percentage of legislator or DOT respondents |
The resulting data from all four surveys and in-depth supplemental research is summarized in this synthesis and detailed in the state profiles that follow. An earlier draft was sent to several stakeholder groups-including all survey respondents-for review and fact-checking. Substantive feedback was received from 34 states, which was used to improve the report's accuracy. (Appendix C contains a list of organizations that responded to surveys 1, 2 and 4, including those that offered substantive reviews of the earlier draft of the findings.)