Update: SAFETEA-LU Reauthorization
The federal highway and transit programs legislation – the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) – expired on September 30, 2009 and has been operating on a series of short-term extensions since. With the passage of the HIRE Act, current law was extended through December 31, 2010. As part of the legislation, $19.6 billion in general funds were transferred to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to provide solvency through early to mid 2011. While this gives states and contracts funding certainty through the end of the calendar year, Congress must make a multi-year reauthorization bill a priority.
While Chairman Oberstar (House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee) introduced reauthorizing legislation last summer, it is unlikely that Congress will move forward with a multi-year package before this year's lame duck period at the earliest. Senate authorizing committees are working on their bills. At issue, the HTF does not have the revenue necessary for a robust multi-year bill and has been dipping into insolvency over the past two years. Just to maintain existing funding levels, Congress will have to find new revenue which has traditionally come in the form of a gas tax increase – not a politically popular option in normal times, let alone the current recession. Instead, Congress has chosen to provide the HTF with a series of bailouts to keep the federal programs operating.
Congress must swiftly reauthorize the surface transportation programs while ensuring that the federal role is defined, existing programs are reformed, wasteful spending is curbed, and federal investment in U.S. highways and transit systems is increased:
- The uncertainty surrounding reauthorization is leading to many delayed or cancelled longer-term projects.
- The jobs impact of the delay in reauthorization has rippled throughout the economy.
- Workers at design and engineering firms, construction companies, equipment manufacturers, and materials providers have lost their jobs and even more positions are on the line due to uncertainty in federal funding.
- While the economy is showing some signs of recovery, the construction industry unemployment rate is now at a staggering 24.7%. Private construction is in the tank, home building fell by $60 billion last year and private commercial construction fell by $88 billion. The only bright spot has been public works construction (like the highway/transit programs) that increased by about $9 billion in 2009.
- We can no longer delay. Authorizing legislation for core government programs is the fundamental business of Congress, and ignoring that duty is to shortchange job creation, safety, mobility and America's competitiveness. We knew SAFETEA-LU would expire on September 30, 2009 and Congress has chosen to kick the can down the road.
- Meanwhile, the HTF continues to teeter on the edge of bankruptcy and good jobs are on the line as in a time of record unemployment.
Read the Chamber's policy statement on SAFETEA-LU reauthorization.