Senate passes highway bill, but Bush veto looms
The U.S. Senate Tuesday passed a $295 billion highway spending bill, $11 billion more than the Bush administration has set as the absolute maximum it would accept.
The 89-11 vote by the Republican-controlled Senate sets up a showdown with the House, which passed a $284 billion bill, and the White House, which has threatened to veto any bill above that amount.
The Department of Transportation’s budget and state grants for surface transportation projects have been frozen at levels set in the previous six-year spending bill, which expired 19 months ago. Congress has passed six extensions of the $218 billion Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century because lawmakers could not agree on the size of the bill.
The surface transportation spending blueprint now goes to a conference committee where differences between the House and Senate versions will be reconciled, but some observers believe it is unlikely Congress will complete a bill before the current extension expires May 31. Congress might try to pass another extension to maintain baseline funding levels through the July 4 recess if quick agreement on a new bill proves difficult.
Several Republicans broke ranks with the administration because they said the nation’s transportation infrastructure was in desperate need of repair and expansion. Critics of the bill say it is primarily devoted to road paving at the expense of other types of transportation infrastructure that can help reduce vehicular traffic and congestion.
The Bush administration says it must hold the line at $284 billion at a time of war and growing deficits. The Senate said it had come up with an additional $11 billion for the highway trust fund without adding to the deficit, according to the Associated Press.
During a visit to the Port of Jacksonville in Florida earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta called again on Congress to quickly pass the highway spending bill, which includes money for intermodal improvements to reduce congestion on port and rail access roads.
“What good is it to have state-of-the-art equipment on the docks if container trucks slow to a crawl outside the main gate?” Mineta said in a speech following a tour of Jacksonville’s Blount Island Terminal. “The connections between our ports and the highways that serve them must be as efficient as the ports themselves,” he said.
Mineta said the president’s proposed highway bill addresses freight transportation in a more comprehensive manner by including initiatives to promote maritime and rail investment.
“For the first time, freight and logistics issues have finally taken their rightful place on the surface reauthorization agenda,” he said, according to a copy of his speech.
But President Bush is adamant that spending should not be increased above the $284 billion cap, Mineta said.
“We will not give in to pressure to approve irresponsible plans that would no doubt lead to higher deficits or new gas taxes,” Mineta said.
