Since President Obama's surprise announcement on Labor Day calling for $50 billion in transportation investment AGC has been attempting to get further details. In meetings this week with top DOT officials and discussions with key Congressional staff there remains a great deal of uncertainty. Congress will be returning from its summer recess next week and will presumably meet with Administration officials to decide if the time to move forward is now or later. AGC will continue to meet with key senators and representatives to discuss this proposal and to press the need to move forward now with a six year bill.
From this week's meetings AGC has ascertained the following:
- The Administration does not want $50 billion in additional stimulus funding but instead has suggested that this is "front-end" loading of the highway and transit reauthorization legislation and the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization legislation to make more funding available in the first years of the bills to address current economic conditions by creating jobs. Whether these funds would be requested before the end of the year or as part of a six year proposal will be decided after discussions with Congress.
- The Administration used this announcement as an opportunity to say it supports moving ahead with a six-year surface transportation bill in the next Congress. There is no intention on the Administration's part to push for enactment of the surface transportation bill before the end of 2010. In fact, the Administration does not intend to have its reauthorization proposal ready until at least February 2011 when it submits its budget request for FY 2012.
- The fact sheet that accompanied the President's speech discusses a "transportation" trust fund and discussed efforts over the next six years to construct, rebuild, and rehabilitate roads, railways and runways. This caused concern that the Administration was calling for elimination of the Highway Trust Fund and funding all transportation out of one funding pot. While the Administration supports keeping aviation infrastructure funding separate, the Administration may call for including an account in the Highway Trust Fund for rail. The revenue source for this new account has not been specified.
- The proposal did include some of the Administration's priorities for surface transportation reauthorization including: consolidating programs, safety, environmental sustainability, livability, economic competitiveness and creating an infrastructure bank. These priorities have been identified before and no new details on these ideas were included.