While Congressional leaders agree that the $450 to $500 billion six year reauthorization of federal surface transportation funding is just what the economy needs to create jobs, major disagreements over where to get the money and how to spend it could doom all hope of getting reauthorization passed into law before the current funding expires September 30 this year. Receipts from fuel taxes to the federal highway trust fund continue to tumble as fuel prices stabilize at half last year's levels and people drive less. House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio both oppose any increase in fuel taxes, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar is backing off his advocacy of raising fuel taxes as well as imposing new taxes on vehicle miles driven.
Senate efforts toward reauthorizing legislation lag even further behind schedule, with Senator Mark Warner suggesting Monday at an infrastructure conference sponsored by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce that "I'm not sure you are going to see a full transportation bill put out this year." Meanwhile, Texas Congressman Kevin Brady, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell of Transportation For America are all pushing for major overhaul of the way highways and transit are funded. Congressman Brady proposes sunsetting the highway trust fund in 2011 while holding a national summit to develop new infrastructure plans.
Whatever construction funding was appropriated in the stimulus legislation may be all the cash the transportation sector of the construction economy will be seeing for a very long time.
Senate efforts toward reauthorizing legislation lag even further behind schedule, with Senator Mark Warner suggesting Monday at an infrastructure conference sponsored by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce that "I'm not sure you are going to see a full transportation bill put out this year." Meanwhile, Texas Congressman Kevin Brady, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell of Transportation For America are all pushing for major overhaul of the way highways and transit are funded. Congressman Brady proposes sunsetting the highway trust fund in 2011 while holding a national summit to develop new infrastructure plans.
Whatever construction funding was appropriated in the stimulus legislation may be all the cash the transportation sector of the construction economy will be seeing for a very long time.
