Copyright Notice:
Transport Topics content is protected by U.S. copyright law and may not be used
without prior written
Permission.
Updated:
LaHood Expects Highway Funding Bill by Year’s End
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said recently that he expects the Obama administration and Congress will finalize a long-delayed highway funding bill before the end of the year.
Legislation authorizing transportation spending expired last September, but Congress since then has passed a series of short-term extensions. The program currently has funding through late February.
The Obama administration in June asked for an 18-month delay in reauthorizing the surface transportation program.
“President Obama wants a robust, comprehensive transportation bill that meets the needs of America,” LaHood said at the Transportation Research Board annual meeting in Washington last week. “The problem is that bill costs between 400 and 500 billion dollars.”
LaHood has repeatedly said the administration opposes raising fuel taxes to cover spending in a new bill.
“We want to work with Congress . . . to find the money to pay for it,” LaHood said. “We will get there; I believe we will get there this year.”
LaHood also said the administration favors a second stimulus bill featuring more investment in transportation infrastructure.
“The House passed a new jobs bill at the end of 2009 and we’re hoping the Senate will soon take up its own version,” he said.
LaHood added that a second stimulus was “crucial because although the economy is starting to recover, the jobless rate is still far too high.”