R.G. Edmonson, Associate Editor | Feb 13, 2012 3:53PM EST
An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Republican-backed surface transportation plan would cause a $9.4 billion shortfall in Highway Trust Fund expenditures by the end of fiscal 2021.
The CBO report also estimated the plan’s new fund for mass transit and other Department of Transportation programs would drop to $68.9 billion in the same period.
The report adds a new wrinkle to the increasingly partisan fighting in Congress over the surface transportation reauthorization measure. Introduced by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, which passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week, calls for $260 billion to be spent on highways through fiscal 2016. The CBO estimates a $500 million shortfall in that year.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has seized on the bill as a fiscally responsible measure that will be "good for the country." But he also has acknowledged he will have difficulty getting approval in the full House. A vote on the bill could come this week.
The bill would “destroy 550,000 American jobs, said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.V., ranking member on the transportation committee.
An analysis of the bill by the rules comittee and the CBO analysis are available on the committee’s Web site.
Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobinWash.