(The following story by Colby Itkowitz appeared on the Congressional Quarterly website on June 19, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Top House transportation authorizers had harsh words Thursday for the Obama administration’s request to postpone a new highway bill for 18 months, but their counterparts in the Senate expressed relief at getting the issue off their plates.
“The administration of change has said the status quo is fine,” said Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Highways and Transit Subcommittee.
In defiance of the administration’s plan, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., reiterated his intent to proceed with a June 24 subcommittee markup of his six-year, $500 billion surface transportation reauthorization package.
Committee members rallied behind the chairman. Even ranking Republican John L. Mica of Florida posed with Oberstar at a news conference to announce the bill, the two of them holding a shovel and declaring they would move forward as planned.
Oberstar argued that a short-term authorization would put a “Damocles’ sword of uncertainty” over the future of transportation projects.
The head of the group that represents state highway officials endorsed that sentiment. John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Transportation and Highway Officials, warned that states will back off long-term projects if they are unsure of how much money will be available.
“We want certainty as soon as it can be created,” Horsley said.
Senate Says Administration Plan Is Too Much
While House authorizers complained that the administration’s plan would postpone a desperately needed overhaul of transportation projects, the Senate’s top transportation appropriator said that even modest changes envisioned as part of the administration’s 18-month authorization would be too ambitious.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the administration’s plan would be to reauthorize current programs for 18 months, find the money to replenish the Highway Trust Fund and pursue “critical reforms.”
But Senate Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., told LaHood at a hearing Thursday that the busy Senate calendar leaves little time to do more than fill a projected deficit in the Transportation Trust Fund.
The fund is estimated to be facing a shortfall of $5 billion to $7 billion by August.
“I do not oppose on principle the effort to improve federal transportation programs, but we cannot allow debates over these reforms to prevent us from saving the Highway Trust Fund in a timely matter,” Murray said.
Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is the Senate’s top transportation authorizer, also endorsed the administration’s short-term plan.
Oberstar’s bill would provide $450 billion for surface transportation programs and an additional $50 billion for high-speed rail, create new offices to coordinate transportation and housing projects and expedite project completion, and tie federal transportation funding to national benchmarks.
The House plan would create a National Infrastructure Bank to pay for projects that improve mobility in metropolitan areas, advance high-speed rail initiatives and fund projects of national significance.
Oberstar — apparently blindsided by the administration’s proposal of a short-term reauthorization on the eve of the rollout of his six-year plan — said he is open to negotiations with White House officials, but they have to come to him.
Although the chairman enjoys the support of his committee members, it is unclear whether he has broader backing in the House or even in his own caucus.
“I couldn’t care less,” House Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey, D-Wis., said Wednesday. “I’m focused on appropriations bills.”