Oberstar Says 'Second Stimulus' Should Be Highway Bill

Any more legislation that Congress passes to stimulate the economy will be dedicated solely to highways, Rep. James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said July 16.

“If there is going to be a second stimulus, it’s going to be highways or nothing else,” Oberstar told members and witnesses at a Highway and Transit Subcommittee hearing, ramping up the heat on a dispute between members of Congress and the Obama administration over federal spending and transportation.

Oberstar said no one he has talked to in Congress has mentioned constituents' appreciation for the tax cuts that the government made in February. “They don’t know that their taxes have been cut, but they do know that work is under way on highway projects, street projects, bridge projects all across America. And transit buses are being built and put to use by cities,” he said.

As of May, state transportation departments had launched some 1,200 highway projects using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with another 2,300 projects under contract, Oberstar said. He added by now, the numbers should have doubled.

Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.