It seems that the issues surrounding — and potentially derailing — each successive long-term transportation funding bill are more complicated than the last. The current bill, that has a name so stupid I vowed to never use it, expires Sept. 30. It was due in 2003, but took two more years and 12 extensions before it was hashed out, passed and signed.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He spoke to the 500 attendees at the Transportation Construction Coalition fly-in in May. He spoke of radically transforming transportation funding and of having a long-term, $450 billion transportation-funding bill passed by the full House Transportation Committee before July 4. I hate to rain on someone's can-do parade, but the situation is considerably more difficult than it was in 2003.

For starters, the Highway Trust Fund is bust. It went broke last fall and needed an $8 billion infusion. That jolt was supposed to carry it until October. However, it now seems the fund will run dry again and could need as much as $15 billion.

The trust fund problem is compounded by a recession that has people driving less and using more efficient vehicles. This, of course, puts less gas tax revenue into the fund. You have to tip your hat to Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) who had the guts to call for a gas-tax increase. Raising the tax seems the best near-term solution, but a difficult one to sell to the public with unemployment pushing 9% and declining home and portfolio values. I sat in on several meetings with Congressmen and Senators during the fly-in; the general consensus was that a snowstorm in hell is a safer bet than a gas-tax hike this year.

The situation is further complicated by how much debt the federal government has racked up bailing out companies “too big to fail” and pumping stimulus money into the economy. And the two wars we were financing in 2003 still are sucking money out of the treasury.

I don't believe we'll see a bill this year, and the longer the debate drags on, the less appetite Americans will have for more deficit spending. Public support will be further undermined if Congress and the administration cannot contain earmarks and pork projects. The public, hopefully, will not tolerate any more bridges to nowhere. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Executive Director John Horsley said as much when addressing the fly-in crowd. There must be accountability and value for the money spent, he said.

The next funding bill may not be all that the industry wants or that the public needs. But if it is executed with honesty and integrity, it could lay the foundation for a more robust funding bill the next time around, when the country is out of this recession. If this bill fails to deliver true value, the next one will certainly be more complicated and difficult.

Questions or comments?
rmarkley@rockproducts.com, 312-840-8446