DOT runs out of transport program funds

DOT runs out of transport program funds    U.S. Department of Transportation workers could be furloughed and state construction projects halted after a Senate deficit hawk on Friday blocked attempts at quick passage of a jobs bill that includes an extension for highway and transit programs.
   Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., objected to the $10 billion increase in the deficit from the jobs bill that is primarily intended to extend unemployment benefits and provide tax incentives to businesses that hire new employees. He is calling for Congress to offset the spending with other cuts as required by recently passed pay-as-you-go legislation.

Bunning

   The Senate passed a $15 billion stimulus bill last Wednesday that included a one-year reauthorization for the SAFETEU-LU surface transportation spending plan, which was due to expire last Sept. 30 and has been kept alive at the same levels by a series of extensions while Congress considers a long-term solution. The House previously approved a much larger bill in December. Both chambers agreed to temporarily settle on a 30-day emergency extension of unemployment benefits and surface transportation programs while larger differences are ironed out, but Bunning refused to go along with a quick-vote request and insisted on offsetting spending cuts for the overall package.
   Funding for highway, transit and safety programs runs out Monday.
   'It's outrageous that one senator can kill a piece of legislation and cause chaos for our cities and states,' Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., said in a statement. 'Thanks to one senator's stubbornness, Missouri will not be reimbursed for its federal share of highway projects until we get this mess sorted out. This threatens important transportation projects and the livelihoods of construction workers during these already tough times.'
   States are expected to suspend work on many road and bridge projects while they wait for reimbursement for federal highway funds. States were due to receive $768 million in highway reimbursements for the first week of March. They may also not advertise bids for new projects.
   'We are deeply concerned about the severe impacts to state and local transportation programs of this disruption of the federal highway and transit programs,” said John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
   About 4,000 workers at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and elsewhere face unpaid leave unless funding is restored. The Senate jobs bill that would extend SAFETEA-LU through the end of the year is pending in the House, and could come up for a vote on Tuesday. It would then go to the Senate, where it could be passed over Bunning's objection. Furloughs could be avoided if passage appears imminent, according to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Oberstar

   One of the differences between the Senate and House bills related to funding formulas for highway grants to states. House leaders objected to the Senate bill because it directed that 58 percent of the trust fund money go to four states — California, Louisiana, Illinois and Washington. Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also objected to another provision that prohibited seven highway formula programs from receiving a share of bonus formula funds. Oberstar said he dropped opposition to the jobs bill after receiving written assurances from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that funding formula adjustments will be addressed in a subsequent jobs bill in the next couple of weeks.
   'In a way I think this shutdown of the federal transportation programs and support for states will prove a motivation to move ahead with a six-year authorization bill,' Oberstar said. A subcommittee approved a multiyear transportation reauthorization bill last summer that has stalled in the House. ' Eric Kulisch