A Rare Glimpse of Bipartisanship on Highway Bill

In an unusual display of bipartisanship, a large group of House members from both parties pledged to work with President Obama on a six-year highway reauthorization bill. Sixty-two Democrats and 49 Republicans signed a letter asking Obama to support a six-year, fully funded bill.

The group, led by Republicans Aaron Schock, Ill., and Patrick Meehan, Pa., and Democrats Jim Cooper, Tenn., and John Carney, Del., does not have an answer to the critical question of how to pay for the measure, but did say "We stand willing to work with your administration on a variety of funding options."

The letter came as progress on the highway measure slowed in the House.

More delays

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, had planned to introduce a bill this month but last week said he will not, after all. There is not enough time for the full House to consider the measure, he said, adding that action is not likely until early to mid February.

The House is considering linking funding for transportation reauthorization to the extraction of oil and natural gas from areas now closed to drilling.

Speaker John Boehner said that drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as expanded oil shale development, would provide a new revenue stream to the Highway Trust Fund for infrastructure repair and improvement, although he did not specify how that revenue stream would be tapped.

That bill, the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, would run for a five-year term, rather than the traditional six years.

Meanwhile, the Senate has a bill by the Environment and Public Works Committee that would reauthorize the federal highway program at current funding levels for two years.

Funding for this measure has not yet been found. The bill calls for $109 billion over the two years, which would keep spending at current levels plus inflation, but the funding that will be available from the Highway Trust Fund falls about $12 billion below that.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a member of the EPW Committee and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has said he will find the $12 billion.

Need for long-term reauthorization

In the bipartisan letter to Obama, the members said the need for long-term reauthorization is clear. The infrastructure is aging and becoming unsafe, and it creates congestion that retards growth, they said.

"A modern, safe and efficient transportation authorization will not only create jobs now for the construction industry - facing a 13.3% unemployment rate - but it will also set the table for long-term job creation and economic growth," they said.

The letter was endorsed by a number of highway construction interests, and by American Trucking Associations.

Mary Phillips, senior vice president for legislative affairs at ATA, framed the association's support this way: "It is encouraging that a bipartisan group of 111 House Members is urging the President to support a six-year reauthorization bill. But the fundamental issue remains how to fund a six-year bill in a responsible way that preserves the integrity of the Highway Trust Fund."