(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on the Journal of Commerce website on September 14, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress must extend a crucial program due to expire in two weeks to fund highway and other transport projects around the nation, a freight stakeholders’ coalition said, but should also approve replacement legislation for the shortest time possible.
The Obama administration wants to extend the various spending policies that are broadly lumped in with the highway reauthorization bill for 18 months, as the government gets past other major policy issues and develops its own plan to reshape the transport system.
But “18 months is too long,” Janet Kavinoky, director of transportation infrastructure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told a press conference. She was one of a group of industry officials under the Freight Stakeholders Coalition pitching for Congress to focus on the soon-to-expire spending program and develop a good replacement plan.
Although lawmakers are busy with other business including health care reform, “it does not make sense to say that we need more time,” she said, as Congress already has studies and funding recommendations on wide-ranging freight system needs. Meanwhile, every delay means time lost to fixing major congestion spots. “Sometimes we have to remind Congress – time is money,” Kavinoky said.
Key House lawmakers have resisted the idea of extending current legislation, wanting to pass a replacement bill by Oct. 1 that sharply increases funding for major needs. Coalition members have shown support for a proposed extension of about six months.
But with time running out, no coalition officials said the entire package can be passed by month’s end, and several said it is crucial to avoid letting the program lapse.
Allen Biehler, Pennsylvania’s secretary of transportation and president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said if Congress does not extend multi-year transport spending programs that expire this month, it would mean “de-mobilizing” many state construction projects by stopping their contracts and sending workers home.
Darrin Roth, director of highway operations for the American Trucking Associations, said without a strong program of transportation improvements, “we risk having the freight transportation system being a drag on the economy” due to shipment congestion.
Coalition members said system users are now paying higher costs in delays from poor infrastructure, but raising some taxes or system fees could pay for improvements. “When you’ve got a tough situation, you’ve just got to stand tall,” said Biehler.