House Passes Stimulus Bill – Senate Debate Bill Starts on Monday – Action Requested

The House passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the Economic Stimulus Package, on Wednesday by a vote of 244 to 188. Highway and transportation infrastructure funding in the bill totaled over $46 billion, including: $30 billion for bridge and highway funding, to be distributed to states using existing formulas, with a portion of the funds within each state being sub-allocated to local areas; $12 billion for transit funding, with new construction being distributed on a discretionary basis, and upgrades, repair, and other assistance being distributed according to existing formula; and $3 billion for Airport Improvement Grants, distributed on a discretionary basis. The bill was amended on the floor to increase the transit funding by $3 billion to increase the total to $12 billion. A second amendment was adopted cutting the time for the first 50 percent of the highway funds to be obligated from 180 days to 90 days.  The Senate is expected to take up its version of the stimulus bill next week. Funding totals in the senate bill differ and are as follows: $27 billion for bridge and highway funding, to be distributed to states using existing formulas, with a portion of the funds within each state being sub-allocated to local areas; $5.5 billion to fund a newly created grant program for mega projects including highways, bridges, transit, ports, and rail; $$8.4 billion for transit funding for upgrades, repair, and other assistance being distributed according to existing formula; and $1.1 billion for Airport Improvement Grants, distributed on a discretionary basis.   Amendments to increase a variety of infrastructure categories are expected and supported by AGC. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Max Baucus (D-MT) and George Voinovich (R-OH) have sent a letter pointing out that the funding for highways and bridges is inadequate. They intend to propose an amendment to increase highway funding by $40 Billion. AGC urges you to contact your Senators and request that they support infrastructure as part of the economic stimulus package and that they support the Boxer/Inhofe/Baucus/Voinovich amendment to increase highway funding in the bill. You can send an email through AGC's Legislative Action Center urging your Senators to support this amendment. Please send your email today, debate begins on Monday.