The House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee on Thursday approved a bipartisan bill to spend up to
$325 billion on transportation projects over the next six years while Congress
scrambles to prevent a loss of infrastructure spending at the end of the
month.
The measure, titled the Surface
Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015, would spend $261 billion
on highways, $55 billion on transit and approximately $9 billion on safety
programs — but only if Congress can come up with a way to pay for the final
three years.
The committee pushed the process
forward ahead of an Oct. 29
deadline for renewing federal transportation funding. Supporters of the measure said Thursday's
committee vote is the first step toward Congress passing a long-term highway
bill for the first time in 10 years.
"The STRR Act is fiscally
responsible and authorizes federal surface transportation programs for six
years," House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep.
Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said at the start of Thursday's hearing.Republicans in the House have been
facing pressure to pass a multiyear highway bill since they rejected an
infrastructure funding measure that was approved by Senate this summer. They
balked at that bill, in part, because it contained six years' worth of
transportation commitments but only three years' worth of funding.
By contrast, the highway bill that
was approved by the House Transportation Committee on Thursday would require
lawmakers to pass new legislation to "unlock" additional funding
after the initial three years, instead of guaranteeing it in advance.
Both chambers' highway bills would
maintain the federal government's current spending level of about $50 billion
per year for transportation projects, adjusted for inflation. To reach that
level of spending, however, Congress will have to come up with approximately
$16 billion per year to supplement revenue from the federal gas tax.
Democrats in the House have pushed
for an increase in federal infrastructure spending through either a gas tax increase
or an infusion of cash from taxing oversees corporate profits. They lamented the flat levels of
transportation funding in the House highway bill, even though it has been
endorsed by the top Democrats on the Transportation Committee as the best
possible solution.
"America’s infrastructure is
falling apart, and our country is falling behind our economic competitors. We
won’t be able to catch up if we simply keep our inadequate infrastructure
investment on cruise control,” said Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), who introduced a
bill that
calls for using revenue from corporate tax reform to pay for several years of
roads and transit projects.
“For years we have had a major funding
deficit on infrastructure and the old politics and the old answers have failed
us," said Delaney, whose bill would pump $170 billion into the Department
of Transportation's Highway Trust Fund. "If we continue with baseline
funding, in another six years we’ll be in even worse shape."
Republicans noted that Democratic
leaders on the committee have endorsed the multi-year highway bill. "This bill was developed with
subcommittee Chairman [Sam] Graves [R-Mo.], ranking member [Peter] DeFazio
[D-Ore.] and ranking member [Eleanor Holmes] Norton [D-D.C.], and includes
input from both sides of the aisle and the stakeholder community," Shuster
said. "I appreciate everyone’s efforts to get us to this
point."
Congress has been struggling for
years to come up with a way to pay for a long-term extension. The traditional
source for transportation funding is revenue collected by the federal gas tax,
which is currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon. The federal government
spends about $50 billion per year on roads, but the gas tax take only brings in
$34 billion annually, however.
Congress has turned to other areas
of the federal budget to close the gap, and lawmakers on the Transportation
Committee have said that the Ways and Means Committee will have to identify a set
of offsets for the new highway bill before it can move forward.
Transportation advocates complain
that Congress has not passed an infrastructure measure that lasts longer than
two years since 2005. The Congressional Budget Office
(CBO) has estimated it will take about $100 billion, in addition to the annual
gas tax revenue, to pay for a six-year transportation funding bill, which is
the length being sought by the Obama administration and transportation
supporters.
Lawmakers will likely have to pass
another patch to give Congress time to conference on the highway bill because
of the approaching Oct. 29 deadline. The Department of Transportation has
warned that it will have to begin cutting back on payments
to states and local governments for infrastructure projects in November if
Congress does not reach an agreement on a highway bill extension this
month.
Tags: Bill Shuster, John Delaney, Highway bill, Highway Trust Fund, MAP-21 Reauthorization, Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act
of 2015, STRR Act
Comments
If the
18.4 cents/gallon federal gasoline only brings in $34 billion a year, a 6 year
plan should cost $204 billion, not $325 billion. Transit needs to be removed from this Bill.
Transit is the most expensive form of transportation and should be left to
cities and counties to pay for if they want it. State taxes shouldn’t even be
allowed to fund public transit.
All
public transit should be funded by user fees and not be subsidized by
taxes. All public transit should be
private.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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