Given continuing disagreement over the funding mechanism to support higher spending levels for TEA-21 renewal, Senate action is now being deferred until after Labor and possibly into next year. Increasing demands for Senate floor time, particularly in July, was another contributing factor to the delay.

Just before the July 4th recess, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced that it was positioned to take action on the highway portions of the bill this month, with a goal of Senate floor action in late July. It was assumed that the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee would follow EPW's work with action on the transit title, with the Senate Finance Committee adopting the revenue provisions to support higher spending levels over the six-year renewal period.

At the center of the controversy is a bonding plan, developed by Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Minority Member Max Baucus (D-MT), that would grow transportation revenues through new federal debt. Under the proposal, future federal commitments to public transit would be substantially destabilized in favor of highway spending, a plan strongly opposed by Senate Banking Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL) and other panel leaders. The “Baucus-Grassley” plan has been strongly opposed by the Bush Administration and by a very broad cross-section of the transportation interests, including STPP and its many partner organizations.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is still proceeding on the schedule that it set forth before the July 4th recess, promising to release a description of how Chairman Young’s bill would distribute $375 billion among the various program categories and among the states. 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Surface Transportation Policy Project held an event in Baltimore, MD on July 3rd to highlight the threat currently facing the protections for America’s historic places and communities. These protections, included in the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 under Section 4(f), require highway planners to consider all “prudent and feasible” alternatives to avoid historic places and other resources. The Administration’s current TEA-21 reauthorization bill proposes changes that will substantially weaken Section 4(f).The 1966 law enabled activists in Baltimore to persuade officials to build a tunnel under Baltimore harbor instead of a massive bridge that would have loomed above Fort McHenry, the birthplace of our national anthem. The law is widely considered to have been the critical factor in keeping countless historic places and neighborhoods from being bulldozed.

“People who care about maintaining livable communities and saving our nation’s heritage have good reason to sing Section 4(f) praises. Nobody wants to see more communities torn apart by transportation projects,” said Kitty Higgins, Vice President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Office of Public Policy. “Preservation and environmental reviews are not nuisances. They are opportunities to include community voices in how roads are constructed that impact our neighborhoods and irreplaceable places.”

For more information, visit www.transact.org. 

On July 9th, a group of House members announced the creation of the "Fair Alliance for Intermodal Investment" (FAIR), a group of lawmakers dedicated to preserving the current highway and transit funding structure. The new coalition argues that the spending formulas established in TEA-21 are necessary to ensure funding sources for road construction and public transportation systems. Coalition member and House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) explained, "it’s vital that we allocate funding for all transportation needs to reduce congestion while providing a reliable source of transportation. This allows us to achieve critical national goals, including reducing our dependence on foreign oil, conserving resources, reducing congestion, ensuring cleaner air and building national security readiness and response."

According to a press release, FAIR supports a bill that preserves a needs-based highway and transit program, builds on the intermodal principles of previous transportation bills, and focuses on developing a national transportation policy that will benefit all modes by creating a stronger, integrated national transportation system.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK) can now count Paul Weyrich, a founder of the Heritage Foundation and current chairman of the conservative group Coalitions for America, as a supporter in his bid to increase the federal gas tax as part of the reauthorization of TEA-21. In a letter to Congressional Republicans, Weyrich argued that since the gas tax is a dedicated revenue source, an increase would not conflict with traditional conservative opinions on the size and role of the federal government. Weyrich's support comes on the heels of mounting criticism of Young's proposal from conservatives worried about the political ramifications of a tax increase.

New 2002 figures from the Federal Highway Administration show that more than one in four bridges is deficient. There was no change in bridge conditions over the 2001 figures, with twenty-eight percent of bridges found to be either structurally decificient (14%) or functionally obsolete (14%). Over the last decade, however, the number of deficient bridges has declined by 18 percent, an improvement due in large part to dedicated funding provided in ISTEA and TEA-21. Still, as AAA spokesman Mantill Williams noted in a July 8 AP article on the subject, "It seems like we have a tremendously long way to go. The longer we wait, the more expensive it's going to get [to repair the bridges]."

STPP reported on the state of bridge conditions in a February decoder titled, "The Federal Bridge Program: How States Underfund Bridge Safety." That decoder concluded that bridge repair remains a low priority in many states, with billions of dollars in bridge program funding going unspent or diverted to other uses.

To read the STPP decoder on bridge conditions, visit http://www.transact.org/library/decoder/Bridge-Decoder.pdf 

A new report from the Congressional Joint Economic Committee argues that lifting the toll ban on federal highways will give states increased funding and would allow for more flexibility in combating congestion. The July 7th report backs "Freeing Alternatives for Speedy Transportation," or FAST (H.R. 1767), a bill that would allow for toll collection on any new federal highways and on newly added lanes. The report advocates traffic-based pricing, where "the toll charge would vary based on the current congestion level on the road," and a system where only the drivers who use the new toll lanes will be charged. Committee Chair Bob Bennett (R-UT) explained that "by giving states the flexibility to explore innovative practices, we give drivers the opportunity to enjoy better roads and make better choices in their daily commutes."

To Read the report, visit http://jec.senate.gov/studies/JECTollRoads07072003.pdf