Rep. James Oberstar and other leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday unveiled the most substantive proposal to date for the next national highway program.


In their "Blueprint for Investment and Reform," the Minnesota Democrat and his Republican colleagues propose far-reaching changes in the structure and management of the highway program. They envision a $450 billion investment over six years, a 38 percent increase over the current program, plus an additional $50 billion for high speed rail.

This proposal, which will provide the structure for the House bill, nods to many of the recommendations made over the past year or so by congressional research committees and others.

It calls for significant organizational reforms at the Department of Transportation, for performance standards in the execution of highway projects, for speeding up the completion of projects and for creation of a National Transportation Strategic Plan.

It calls for a beefed-up truck safety program, including mandatory onboard electronic recorders, a clearinghouse for drug and alcohol tests that employers would have to check before hiring a driver, tougher training standards for drivers and for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to finish setting up a National Registry of Medical Examiners.

Money and timing are the sticking points. Oberstar, who chairs the House T&I Committee, and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee, are adamant that Congress and the White House pass legislation and come up with the funds through a fuel tax increase by the end of September, when the current bill expires.

But the Obama administration is pushing for an 18-month delay. "The Administration opposes a gas tax increase during this challenging, recessionary period, which has hit consumers and businesses hard across our country," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a statement.
The House Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax issues, is scheduled to take up the matter next week.

Meanwhile, a couple of committees in the Senate are working on legislation but are not close to being finished, a circumstance that will make it difficult to meet Oberstar's October deadline.

For more details, see the July issue of HDT.