Now that substantially different
legislative measures for long term surface transportation funding have gone to
the floors of both the House and the Senate, work on the bills is stalled while
House Republican leaders noodle over ways to cut back both the duration and
generosity of their funding measure to bring it more into line with the Senate
version. Facing a March 31, 2012 expiration date for current Highway Trust Fund
appropriations, along with a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the
proposed House measure would bankrupt the trust fund sometime in fiscal 2016, Congressmen
and their leaders are attempting to cobble together a passable measure with
zero earmarks which would avoid addressing the problem of declining motor fuel
tax revenues until after the November elections.
The last long term Highway Trust
Fund reauthorization expired in 2009, and included more than 6,300 House and
Senate earmarks for the pet projects of our elected officials. Meanwhile the
Senate measure has been sidetracked by votes on proposed amendments unrelated
to surface transportation, which have been attached by Senators viewing the highway
legislation as one of the few bills likely to pass before elections roll
around. All of this political posturing
bodes further ill for the construction industry across the nation.
