New Jobs Bill Leaves Questions

Hours after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released a draft "Jobs" bill to address current economic conditions which had bipartisan support, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered instead a scaled-down version and announced that the Senate will consider this version of the legislation on February 22, following the week-long President's Day recess.  The Reid "jobs" legislation contains the same provisions related to the highway program as in the Baucus/Grassley bill as follows:  - Extends authorization for the highway and transit programs at FY 2009 funding levels though December 31, 2010; - Provides $19.5 billion in revenue to the Highway Trust Fund to keep the program solvent into 2011. This transfer would reimburse the HTF for $19.5 billion in lost interest payments since 1998; - Shifts the cost of motor fuel tax exemptions for state and local governments from the HTF to the general fund.  This would provide ongoing HTF revenue of approximately $1.5 billion each year; - Restores spending authority lost from an $8.7 billion rescission of contract authority contained SAFETEA-LU. The current extension of highway and transit program authorization expires on February 28, and because of federal budget rules it is important that the extension and transfer of funds happen before that deadline. Every state will lose funding if this fix is not approved. Click here to view the impact on your state. This new twist will make meeting this deadline even more difficult. If you have not yet done so, please contact your senators, particularly Republican senators, and tell them to support an extension of the highway and transit program with additional revenue through the end of the year. Inform them that failure to pass the extension and the additional program revenue will have a direct impact on FHWA's ability to reimburse your state DOT for ongoing construction projects and could cause your DOT to cancel scheduled lettings.  You can send a message by calling the Capitol Hill switch board at 1-800-828-0498 and ask for your Senators' offices, or by following this link to AGC's Legislative Action Center.