Lawmakers Consider Cutting Highway Projects After Katrina

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ome federal lawmakers are considering delaying spending projects, including within the $286 billion federal highway act signed into law in August, in the wake of huge bills facing the country due to Hurricane Katrina, the Associated Press reported.

The highway measure has been criticized for including about 6,000 projects added by lawmakers to benefit their districts and states, AP said.

Under “Operation Offset,” House Republicans may call for setting aside additional highway projects and delaying other some other planned federal programs by a year, AP said, citing Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.).

Pence, head of the Republican Study Group made up of the some of the GOP's more conservative members, said the answer does not lie in raising taxes or holding off on making the president's tax cuts permanent — instead, he favors cutting the budget, AP said.

Some Democrats also have questioned how President Bush can trim the budget to pay for Katrina recovery and the Iraq War while still supporting planned tax cuts, such as the estate tax, AP reported.