The Political Bridge

The Recession's Cost: States Are Losing Millions in Transportation Funds

 

From the Taxpayers for Common Sense

California alone will lose almost $800 million and every state will lose at least $30 million. In effect, this will wipe out a good portion of the dollars states received in transportation funds from the federal stimulus bill.

 

It is possible if not likely that Congress will find a way to backfill these funds. But this would drive up the cost of the 2005 transportation bill to $295 billion; add to that the $15 billion Congress already deposited into the Highway Trust Fund to keep it from going broke, and the bill is more like $310 billion.

 

Click Download Final_093009_highway_rescession    to see each state's loss of transportation revenues.

Have Conservative GOPs Blocked Senate Plans to Save Transportation Projects, including Construction of the Louisville Bridges

(Money is desperately to save America's crumbling infrastructure, DrTed)

From DC.Streets Blog.Org

A bipartisan bid to extend existing federal transportation law for three months -- and tap the TARP bailout fund to avert the cancellation of $8.7 billion in contract authority -- was rejected on the Senate floor last night after GOP senators insisted on using stimulus money, rather than bailout cash, to fix the problem.

Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and her panel's senior Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe (OK), agreed with their respective party leaders to shift $300 million in bailout money as a temporary fix to prevent state DOTs from canceling projects…

Is the Obama Administration's Planning a New Stimulus Package, With A Broader Transportation BIll ds

Bloomberg.Com

 Administration officials have told allies in Congress that a broader transportation bill, and extensions of a homebuyer tax credit and unemployment benefits are all on the table, a Senate aide said.

Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that is tasked with holding the party’s House majority in next year’s midterm elections, said additional transportation funding would be popular among Democratic lawmakers.

“If there was to be another round of stimulus, additional infrastructure would be at the top of the list,” Van Hollen said in an interview.