September 2009 Archives

President Obama, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar have all rejected the idea of raising the gas tax during a recession. Last week during debate on a bill to extend the surface transportation law through the end of the year, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia tried to use a parliamentary procedure to put the House on record with "a public rejection of increasing the gas tax" (the gambit failed and the chamber voted 335-85 for the three-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, which expires October 1).

Last week also saw the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Trucking Associations and the AAA together endorse raising the gas tax to increase investment in a larger but significantly reformed surface transportation program. They urged Congress to reject the 18-month extension proposed by the Obama administration and the Senate and instead to move quickly on reauthorization.

Transportation groups from across the political spectrum agree on the need for a new, reformed law soon and they are willing to support higher fuels taxes to get it. Yet there is significant resistance at the White House and in Congress to doing just that. How can transportation advocates battle these political headwinds to speed up and ease passage of the kind of surface transportation program they want? If raising the gas tax now is a non-starter, what other options are available to pay for the bill, and can they supply the necessary funds?

14 responses: Jack Kinstlinger, Deron Lovaas, Gabriel Roth, Steve Van Beek, Jim Burnley, Lisa Mullings, John Horsley, Bill Graves, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Patrick J. Natale, P.E., Ken Orski, Mortimer L. Downey, Robert L. Darbelnet, Jon Martz

Last week the Center for Public Integrity reported that almost 1,800 "special interest groups" have already hired 2,100 lobbyists and spent an estimated $45 million to lobby Congress on transportation in the first half of this year. The center, which tracks money in politics, says its investigation of transportation lobbying shows that "Congress's funding of transportation has become a broken process influenced by special interests." According to the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, the number of earmarks exploded from just 10 in 1982 to more than 6,300 in the 2005 SAFETEA-LU law.

Along with organizations like the Brookings Institution and the Bipartisan Policy Center and a host of respected experts, the commission has called for the next surface transportation bill to focus on meeting national priorities and to use performance-based, outcome-driven criteria rather than parochial interests and political influence to determine how and where to spend federal dollars. With so much lobbying already under way, will it be possible to write the kind of transformational bill that transportation policy experts recommend? Can Congress and K Street control their appetite for earmarks, and at what point do earmarks go from simply greasing the political skids to undermining good policy?

10 responses: John M. Krieger, Bill Graves, Steve Van Beek, Jon Martz, Gabriel Roth, Jack Kinstlinger, Greg Cohen, Jack Schenendorf, Emil H. Frankel, Robert Puentes

Last week the country marked the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and, in the only thwarted attempt, a field in western Pennsylvania. The attacks exposed glaring vulnerabilities in our transportation security system and made addressing security threats to all modes of transportation a top priority for government and the private sector alike. Eight years later, where do we stand on that effort? Where has transportation security been enhanced and where do gaps still exist? What do we need to do next?

13 responses: Patrick J. Natale, P.E., Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla., Steve Van Beek, Ed Hamberger, James P. Hoffa, Mortimer L. Downey, Bill Graves, Lisa Caruso, Ron Kuhlmann, James C. May, Bob Poole, Michael P. Jackson, Norman Mineta

Many organizations have called for the next surface transportation bill to create a national freight program with a dedicated source of funding (among them are the Freight Stakeholders Coalition, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials). What should that policy look like and what should its revenue source be? What role can the private sector and other levels of government play in improving the movement of goods across the country and across all modes of transportation? Where do air cargo and freight rail fit into the equation?

16 responses: Lisa Caruso, Lisa Caruso, Ed Hamberger, Matt Rose, Steve Van Beek, Bob Poole, James Corless, Patrick J. Natale, P.E., Jack Kinstlinger, Michael Sussman, Mortimer L. Downey, Geraldine Knatz, Jack Basso, Leslie Blakey, Kurt J. Nagle, Bill Graves