DALLAS — The key to getting Congress to enact another federal highway bill, is convincing members that the federal government has an important role in surface transportation infrastructure, Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently said.
"Let's start focusing on what the main problem is out there," Shuster, R-Pa., said Friday in a speech at the 82nd annual winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "Let's make sure we make people realize what the problem is out there before we start talking dollars and cents."
The Highway Trust Fund is expected to run dry several weeks before the end of fiscal 2014 on Sept. 30, Shuster said, but concentrating on how to replenish it for a new round of funding is not the main issue facing Congress.
"Funding becomes a byproduct of when people understand that jobs and the economy depend on a robust transportation system," he said.
It is essential that local leaders help Republicans understand the need for federal involvement in funding surface transportation and make Democratic lawmakers realize that reforms that speed up projects would result in a lower delivered price, he said.
"On my side of the aisle, there's a reluctance to think the federal government has a role or that we shouldn't be spending money, or we shouldn't be spending more money," Shuster said, adding, "on the other side of the aisle, there's a reluctance to streamline things."
Local officials need to convince both Democrats and Republicans of the basic value of investing in transportation infrastructure, he said.
"Transportation is a fundamental role of the government of the United States," Shuster said. "It's critical that we have the mayors' help to sell this to your constituents and educate members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle."
The committee has begun hearings on the replacement for the federal funding bill that expires at the end of fiscal 2014, but it will be a long process, the committee chairman warned.
He urged the local leaders to bring representatives from trucking, banking, and manufacturing interests to Capitol Hill to stress the importance of transportation funding to lawmakers.
"I'm going to need you, helping me to drive those reforms, so we can do more with the dollars we have, and also make sure we're educating those on my side that there's a fundamental role in the federal government being involved with the state and the locals out there," Shuster said.
Unlike Shuster, the 16 Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee want action soon on finding new options for funding the HTF.
In a letter sent to Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., earlier this month, they asked him to hold hearings "in the near future" on funding options for the Highway Trust Fund.
"We have fewer than nine months to find a funding solution for our infrastructure system," the Democrats said.
While funding under the two-year, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) highway bill will expire Sept. 30, the highway account may be insolvent before then.
"At that time, we will face the prospect of a dramatic reduction in transportation resources because the nearly $21.2 billion that was invested in the highway program through MAP-21 will have been expended," the Democrats said.
"Our transportation programs will begin to notice the drop in funding this summer, when the Highway Trust Fund's available cash on hand is likely to fall below $4 billion, which is the minimum amount necessary to maintain a sufficient balance to meet week-to-week obligations, they said?"
No hearings have yet been scheduled.
