Key Senators Urge 6-Month Highway Bill Extension

A bipartisan group of senators is calling for action that would extend the surface transportation bill to create jobs and spur economic recovery.

Republicans James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas joined Barbara Boxer of California, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, John Rockefeller of West Virginia and Max Baucus of Montana in asking Senate leaders to override objections to an extension.

The senators are the chairs or ranking members of four key Senate committees dealing with transportation spending.

In a Nov. 17 letter, they asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to file cloture to move the six-month extension forward. It has been blocked by a group of senators who object to the use of unspent bailout money to fund infrastructure.

The 2005 surface transportation act expired at the end of September, and two short-term extensions have been needed to keep money flowing to states.

"One of the best ways to spur job creation and economic recovery is through infrastructure investment," the senators said in their letter. "That is why a longer term extension of the surface transportation program is so important."

With unemployment above 10 percent, Democrats in the House are pushing for a "job creation bill" that would focus on transportation projects. House Majority leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Nov. 17 that he and other House leaders would push for a Dec. 18 floor vote on such the package.

Some transportation industry sources say tough reporting conditions imposed by the Obama administration are delaying some road repairs and other infrastructure projects from being completed in 2009 and 2010, as proposed in the original two-year stimulus plan.

President Obama plans to hold a White House forum on jobs and the economy Dec. 3.

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.