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Alternate Funding, Refocused Federal Role Urged in DOT's New Transportation Proposal
The Department of Transportation July 29 released a broad proposal to reform the way transportation systems are managed and funded in order to address problems such as road conditions, congestion, and unsteady funding sources. The plan is intended to spur debate in Congress ahead of the 2009 rewrite of transportation policy laws, according to the introduction by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters: “Without a doubt, our federal approach to transportation is broken. And no amount of tweaking, adjusting or adding new layers on top will make things better.”
The proposal, Refocus. Reform. Renew. A New Transportation Approach for America, says the federal role in transportation should be smaller and better focused than it is today. According to the report, federal attention should be focused primarily on:
- maintaining and improving the condition and performance of the Interstate Highway System;
- reducing congestion in metropolitan areas;
- making highway safety investments;
- improving transportation systems for public and Indian lands;
- using federal funds to leverage private-sector money;
- establishing quality and performance standards;
- ensuring environmental protection while reducing regulatory hurdles; and
- supporting transportation research.
The plan also supports direct user fees, such as tolls and congestion pricing, in addition to public-private partnerships as ways to gradually eliminate the gas tax as roads' largest funding source. The proposal suggests allowing tolls on the Interstate Highway System, expanding government partnerships with the private sector, increasing the use of private activity bonds, and providing greater flexibility for states and localities to create and use infrastructure investment banks. A national infrastructure bank has been proposed in Congress. (Source: Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.)
House Committee Restates Opposition To DOT's Mexican Truck Pilot Program
The House Transportation Committee July 31 approved a bill reaffirming congressional opposition to a program allowing up to 100 trucks from Mexico to operate throughout the United States.
The measure (H.R. 6630), which passed on a voice vote after brief discussion, would ensure that the one-year pilot program would end Sept. 6, as scheduled, and that the program cannot continue "unless expressly authorized by Congress."
"I believe that it's in order for Congress to act and to shut down further expansion or any expansion" of the program, Transportation Committee Ranking Member John Mica (R-Fla.) said at the markup.
The House passed similar legislation (H.R. 1773) in May 2007 on a 411-3 vote. The Senate Appropriations Committee included language denying funds to further implement the program when it approved a Department of Transportation funding bill (S. 3261) July 10.
Congress included language in the fiscal year 2008 omnibus spending bill prohibiting funds from being spent to "establish" the program. But since the program had already been created, DOT continued to spend money on the program, arguing a difference between "establish" and "implement." Congress typically denies funds through a "establish or implement" clause, but the omnibus bill only denied funds used to "establish" the program. A case regarding the program is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (Source: Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.)
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