Transportation Chief Wants Delay in Highway Bill
WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday said he wants Congress to extend the current transportation-funding formulas for an additional 18 months, putting himself at odds with some senior congressional Democrats.
Mr. LaHood's proposal to put off a wholesale overhaul of federal transportation policy until after the 2010 elections is an acknowledgment that the administration is too tied up in legislative battles over health care, energy and financial overhaul to tackle the contentious issue of how to pay for an upgrade of the nation's roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.
"I recognize that there will be concerns raised about this approach," Mr. LaHood said in a statement. "However, with the reality of our fiscal environment and the critical demand to address our infrastructure investments in a smarter, more focused approach, we should not rush legislation."
But the Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar (D., Minn.), opposes such a long delay in attacking the nation's long-term infrastructure-financing problem, and he wants to increase highway funding significantly starting in October.
Mr. Oberstar's committee is crafting a new $450 billion, six-year transportation-spending bill. The Senate has introduced a similar bill, but the House is expected to move its version to a vote first. Mr. Oberstar plans to unveil his bill this week and hopes to bring it to the House floor for a vote before the August recess.
In a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Mr. Oberstar was adamant that Congress must pass a new law before the current one expires.
"Extension of current law is unacceptable," Mr. Oberstar said. "Now is the time to move."
The debate over how to fund transportation improvements has been simmering for months. The White House hasn't put forward a solution to the central problem: gasoline taxes and levies on vehicle purchases aren't generating enough money to pay for the projects that federal and state officials say are necessary.
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Many transportation experts and some lawmakers want to raise the 18.4-cent per-gallon tax on gasoline and the 24.4-cent per-gallon tax on diesel to close the gap, but the administration opposes that step.
"The administration opposes a gas tax increase during this challenging, recessionary period, which has hit consumers and businesses hard across the country," Mr. LaHood said Wednesday in his statement.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats haven't figured out how to raise all the money they need to pay for their proposed $450 billion program. Many experts estimate that current tax policies will only generate around $300 billion over the next six years.
Meanwhile, Congress and the administration are discussing how to put more money into the highway trust fund this summer, to avert possible spending cuts should the fund run dry. That could happen as soon as August, officials say. Administration officials are expected to propose a solution soon, possibly involving transferring money from general tax receipts to the highway fund.
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