DALLAS — Millions of jobs and billions of dollars in state road and transit projects are at risk unless a multiyear federal transportation bill is in place by the end of May, Senate Finance Committee Democrats warned on Tuesday.
They issued the warning in a letter to committee chair Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asking him to "identify a clear path for a long-term, fully funded surface transportation bill at funding levels that make a significant investment above baseline funding" before the May 31 expiration of the latest extension of the Highway Trust Fund's solvency.
"It is critical that this committee move swiftly to address this urgent need in a bipartisan manner," said the letter, which was signed by the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and his eleven colleagues.
The Democrats noted that President Obama has proposed a $478 billion, six-year transportation bill that would significantly increase funding for transportation infrastructure. The president's proposal would be funded with $238 billion of fuel tax revenues and $240 billion from a temporary, but mandatory, 14% tax on corporate overseas earnings. Other proposals for transportation before Congress include repatriation of corporate foreign earnings and a higher federal gasoline tax.
"These are the issues this committee should be discussing," they wrote. "Yet, our committee has failed to hold a committee hearing or even a bipartisan meeting on these issues this Congress."
Four states have already postponed $1.3 billion of projects over concerns that the lack of a funding bill will result in the delay or reduction of federal reimbursements, the lawmakers noted.
"Our nation's highways and roads are in serious need of reconstructive surgery, but instead critical projects are in limbo," Wyden said in a release accompanying the letter. "We need a long-term bill so that our country can better plan for and support its transportation infrastructure needs."
The funding dilemma will require several innovative solutions, Wyden said.
"Any successful long term solution depends on reliable funding as well as the introduction of creative financing channels," Wyden said in the release. "I'm also looking at how we can bring private capital off the sidelines to help us build a modern transportation system."
Earlier on Tuesday, Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told reporters at a briefing sponsored by the National Journal that he expects Congress will adopt an HTF extension of several months that will last beyond the end of fiscal 2015, on Sept. 30, and keep spending at current levels. He made a similar statement last month at an industry forum.
Extending the HTF past the May 31 expiration through the remainder of this fiscal year would cost almost $10 billion, Shuster said at the press briefing. The short-term extension would give lawmakers time to figure out funding for a longer term bill.
Shuster said that when he asked state transportation officials if they wanted more highway funding in a short-term bill or level funding in a multiyear bill, all opted for the longer term measure.
"It was unanimous," he said. "Everybody wants that five or six years of certainty."
Maintaining transportation funding in fiscal 2016 would require a $16 billion transfer from the general fund or an increase in the 18.4 cent per gallon federal gasoline tax of 10 to 15 cent per gallon, according to the latest analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.
Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday released a proposed fiscal 2016 budget for the Transportation Department that would freeze highway funding at fiscal 2015's $40.25 billion and transit funding at $10.9 billion. President Obama proposed $51.3 billion of highway funding and $18.6 billion for transit in his fiscal 2016 budget request.
"This bill invests in critical infrastructure programs that will keep our people and our businesses moving, and that will make our roads, rails, and airways safe for all," said House Appropriations chairman Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky.
