House extends Transportation Funding while trying to get Bush OK
Seattle Times, April 29, 2004
The US House of Representatives voted yesterday (April 28) to keep federal highway programs running for two months while Republican leaders try to overcome White House resistance to a new bill that would significantly increase federal aid for the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
“This is an embarrassing time for members of the Transportation Committee,” said Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, a committee member. “A bill that is supposed to improve traffic is now stuck in traffic.”
The House voted 410-0 for the two-month extension of the 1998-2003 highway and transit spending bill, and the Senate is expected to follow suit before spending authority expires tomorrow.
This would be the third extension of the six-year, $218 billion program that first expired in September. Since then, the Transportation Committee unsuccessfully pushed a $375 billion bill for the 2004-2009 period and the Senate passed a $318 billion bill. The House overwhelmingly passed a $275 billion bill this month.
But that version failed to pass muster with the White House, which has cited the need for fiscal discipline in a period of mounting budget deficits and has threatened a presidential veto of any legislation that exceeds $256 billion.