President Obama Calls on Congress to Take Up Transportation Legislation

President Barack Obama Wednesday joined a growing chorus of transportation, construction, and labor interests in calling for Congress to take up transportation investment as a priority when it returns from recess next week.Standing in the White House Rose Garden flanked by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other top federal transportation officials, President Obama said that Congress must extend the current surface transportation act, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which expired in 2009. Congress has extended the Act seven times and the current extension expires September 30.”If we allow the transportation bill to expire, almost 4,000 (USDOT) workers will be furloughed immediately without pay. If it is delayed just 10 days, we will lose nearly $1 billion in highway and transit revenue. That’s money we can never get back. And if it is delayed even longer, almost 1 million workers could lose their jobs over the course of the next year,” President Obama said during the brief, eight-minute session.

Last week, Susan Martinovich, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials president and director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, said during a news conference in Louisville, Kentucky, that more than 500,000 jobs and countless state and local projects to modernize and improve transportation across the U.S. are in jeopardy if Congress does not act quickly (see August 26 AASHTO Journal story).

“We appreciate President Obama’s support for transportation investments and look forward to continuing to work with Congress on addressing the country’s urgent transportation challenges,” said John Horsley, AASHTO executive director.

AASHTO last week urged Congress to extend the 18.4-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax that provides the revenue to fund federal highway and transit programs. AASHTO also called for Congress to pass a long-term reauthorization of those programs funded at the highest level possible.

House T&I Committee Chairman John Mica in a statement said that he would agree to one additional highway program extension.

“In the interest of getting Americans back to work and moving vital transportation legislation, Republicans are committed to working with the President and Congressional Democrats,” Mica said.

Mica also said he was returning from the August recess early to consult with House Republican leaders before agreeing to another extension of the FAA authorization, which has been extended 22 times.