Texas Transit Association

For decades one of the most-often trod paths to re-election for members of Congress has been delivering the money for new or improved roads, bridges and mass transit projects to constituents. *The White House and President Bush want to change that.*

(with excerpts taken from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Congress is about to engage in what many think will be the wildest fight yet over the enormous transportation bill. The last highway bill was passed in 1998 at a cost of $218 billion, the largest public works bill in U.S. history. That legislation expires in September.

For two years now the administration has limited its proposal to $247 billion for transportation from 2004 to 2010 — $40 billion for highways and $7.2 billion for mass transit in 2004. Legally, that amount could go higher.

As debate starts, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is working on a $375 billion six-year package that would be paid for in part by an increase in gasoline taxes. Leading the fight for the tax increase is Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the new chairman of the committee. He argues that should he fail to convince fellow members of Congress, the nation’s infrastructure will decline dramatically.

In the Senate, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., chairs the transportation committee, and he, too, thinks the nation’s crumbling infrastructure needs a massive shot of money.

Transportation advocates have vowed a stiff fight for the gas tax, about 5.4 cents more on top of the current 18.4 cents per gallon, saying hat the highways and mass transit are needed for America’s economy, that transportatioin infrastructure construction creates jobs, the program pays for itself from user fees and the states administer it and need the transportation and economic activity that it brings.

American General Contractors CEO, Stephen Sandherr, said, “It has been 10 years since the user fee has been increased. In those 10 years, the purchasing power of the 18.3 cents per gallon tax that we pay for better roads and transit has declined by 30 percent. That means that the traveling public is getting about a third less in transportation investment per tax dollar than they did 10 years ago.”

One anti-tax group has stated that said in “a staggering economy, raising the gas tax will only contribute to the downward spiral. Increasing the cost of gas will have a direct effect on every sector of the economy. Consumers will not just be paying at the pump. From vacation travel to the transportation of goods, there will be sharp increases in prices. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the extra tax burden would be used in a beneficial manner.”

This is a hollow argument given the need to provide fuel for the nation’s economy that can be provided by the expanded employment base that infrastructure construction will provide.

Determined not to be accused of raising taxes just as he starts his re-election campaign, President Bush and the White House have been absolutely opposed to higher gas taxes… even if the economy suffers. So is Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, will attempt to derail any transportation/highway bill he doesn’t like.

In addition to that fight, lawmakers still have to sort through other major transportation debates this year:

* Should states that now get back 89 cents in federal money for every dollar they spend on federal gas taxes, in order that low-population states get more highway money, get back 95 cents on the dollar?

* Should billions of dollars continue to be spent on new roads and highways or is it time to spend more money on mass transportation, such as the magnetic levitation demonstration system being fought over by Pittsburgh, Maryland and California?

* Is it time to roll back some of the environmental regulations that developers think hamper economic growth?

* How does the government reduce the highway fatality rate (43,000 deaths a year at a cost of $230 billion) by one-third in five years, which is the administration’s goal?

Stay tuned.