The Daily Caller

The Daily Caller
Politics
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Chamber of Commerce and House Republicans in dust-up over highway bill

2:40 PM 07/14/2011
C.J. Ciaramella

The House transportation committee is in a war of words with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other critics over proposed long-term highway and surface transportation funding.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led by Republican chairman John Mica of Florida, recently released details of a proposal to extend the expired Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).

The Republican plan proposes spending $230 billion over a six-year period for highway and transportation infrastructure, but committee Democrats, the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have attacked the plan for not spending enough.

“Unfortunately, while [Rep. Mica's] legislation tracks the Chamber’s recommendations for reauthorization, it does not in terms of funding,” said Janet Kavinoky, the Chamber’s executive director of transportation and infrastructure, in a press release.

“It is clear the Committee has been constrained by the House-passed budget as the investment levels are unacceptable. Cuts will destroy — rather than support — existing jobs and will not enable creation of the additional jobs needed to put the 16.3% of unemployed workers in the construction industry back to work,” said Kavinoky.

Mica responded to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a letter yesterday.

“Unfortunately the current leadership of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seems unable to recognize the reality that bankrupting the Highway Trust Fund and ignoring long overdue policy reforms are no longer options,” Mica wrote. “This continuing support of bankrupting policies that have depleted the Highway Trust Fund by diverting or placing inflexible or misguided mandates on our limited and precious transportation resources is unproductive and misguided at best.”

Mica and committee Republicans argued a gas tax increase isn’t politically feasible, and other current options, such as a two-year bill or extending the expired law at current funding levels, will lead to the Highway Trust Fund going broke by 2013 or even earlier. (Senate Dems calling for new infrastructure package)

The federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents and it hasn’t been increased since 1993. Meanwhile, increases in gas mileage have made cars more efficient, leading to decreases in revenue for the Highway Trust Fund. The fund was was completely depleted in 2008, requiring Congress to transfer $8 billion from general revenue.

The most recent multi-year surface transportation bill expired in September of 2009; the program has operated through temporary extensions since then.

The Chamber of Commerce did not return calls seeking comment.

Tags: Transportation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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  • old man

    What part of stop spending do they do not understand. Look at their budget and get rid of all the signs telling us how great Obama’s stimulus is working. Turn lanes were just installed on a road that did not need them here in GA. I really believe I could go through their budget and cut a lot of waste. Turn this money back to the states and let them take care of the roads. Don’t need the money going through DC and paying for all the Dept. of transportation. This is one of the Dept. that needs to be eliminated.

  • dilbert animation on ebay

    Temporary funding since 2009? I wonder why. Could it be the Democrats failed to offer a budget?

  • barryaz

    Shovel ready projects, again?

  • derkrieger

    Wasn’t Porkulus supposed to be spent primarily on infrastructure? Where did all the money go?

    • csm53

      I think we know that most of it went into the pockets of unions and Obama contributors. There is also 128 billion of it unspent which he will not let be considered in the Debt Ceiling discussion. The vast majority was given to the states who used it to cover their own budgetary shortfalls and let them temporarily put off fiscal solutions. That didn’t last either. Given where we are today I think it is safe to say that wherever it went it was not helpful.

  • csm53

    Let Obama give up some of this $128 Billion slush fund from Porkulous to replenish the Highway Trust Fund. Or when Obama lifts the Gulf drilling ban, putting many many people back to work and lowering the price of gas, than we can add a couple of pennies to the per gallon price. Do it now and you just hurt those who struggle to pay for fuel and add transportation costs to products on the market especially food. Or is it possible some have not noticed the increase in prices from high fuel now?

  • MegaGorgo

    Well why not raise the gas taxes a couple of cents so that the USERS of the freeways pay for what they really cost?

    Sorry, does that sound too conservative?

    This no new tax pledge locks people into stupid holes. When and where we need to spend money, like for wars and infrastructure, we should be temporarily raising taxes( sunset provisions can be added) so that we pay now instead of our children paying later.

  • Sandy E

    It’s really sad and sickening to see what a former reputable organization like the Chamber of Commerce has become. Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas fits perfectly. There was a time when the Chamber of Commerce was the go to organization for info. on local businesses, but no longer. Is there no organization this Marxist regime hasn’t taken over?

    • MegaGorgo

      Sandy, you gotta be kidding. According to Opensecrets the national CofC directly spent 91,000 on the GOP and 12,000 on the Democratic Party. Did it ioccur to you that the major part of business is transportation?!?!?!? and that if we don’t spend enough then transportation and therefore commerce suffers?

      whine whine whine taxes are evil. Guess what, the paved road you drive on was paid for by taxes and your security paid for by the blood of our soldiers and the money from our treasury.

      • csm53

        And we pay those taxes to the tune of over .18 cents a gallon and that’s just the Federal take. You don’t think the price of fuel is already hitting people hard? There are other options that will work. And while you are comparing donations from C of C to Republicans why don’t let us know what unions have donated to Democrats.

      • SunnyJ

        SandyE makes a valid point…so do you, and they are not the same point. The CofC is guilty of myopic lobbying and just recently invited the most ridiculous jobs leader, Immelt of GE, to speak at their conference. It was picketed by small business owners. He told them to stop whining about the government…translation, if you want money for your local projects STFU.

        You are correct that transportation costs and infrastructure are important to our entire economy and to where employers locate. Taxes support this, both locally and federal taxes. But, Sandy E didn’t say anything about taxes, she’s made a valid point about the CofC. You will note that the contributions you describe are part of the reason the CofC is doing the ass kissing now. They were punished early on..remember, Obama says, “punish our enemies and reward our friends”. The issue here is the unfair distribution of tax dollars to Obama cronies and the punishment of enemies…see this in DOJ actions, EPA actions, DOT actions and HHS waivers and more.

        • Sandy E

          Thank you Sunny, appreciate it. There were federal tax dollars given to Charlottesville VA, I believe about 20 years ago, to build a bypass around the very congested Route 29 corridor, that all those years ago, and with less congestion, and the bypass is still not built. There was some contingency in the agreement with the DOT that the money will have to be paid back if not used in a certain number of years. That number of years has passed. Charlottesville is a very liberal city, and is home to a liberal government funded UVA. The Chamber of Commerce has fought the bypass, because many businesses are located right on Route 29. It doesn’t matter to them that tractor trailer traffic, traveling through this highly congested area, has no other alternate route, will not be stopping there to shop at those businesses, and has caused a nightmare traffic situation. Not surprisingly, at yet another city council meeting yesterday, none other than John Grisham, yes the author, who doesn’t even live in the city, was out there protesting the bypass, because of “environmental” concerns, and the cost, and the COC is right there with him, supposedly protecting the businesses along a measly 6 1/2 mile stretch. I have banned John Grisham from my reading list long ago. He is a die hard liberal, using his popularity as a spring board to promote liberal policies.

          • cvllelaw

            Actually, Sandy E, no federal dollars have been given to the Route 29 Bypass. You may be thinking of an appropriation that John Warner put in about 8 years ago to fund improvements to the Route 250 Bypass; that money has not been spent yet, though it probably will be starting in the next year. The possibility of money having to be refunded if not spent HAS been raised in connection with the 250 Bypass and the Meadow Creek Parkway, but it has not been raised in connection with the 29 Bypass.

            Also, the local Chamber of Commerce has actually SUPPORTED the Route 29 Bypass, since the 1970′s when it was first suggested. The President of the local Chamber spoke passionately in favor of the road at the hearing last week. The Chamber has had it on its legislative wish list for 35 years. The Route 29 Bypass has been in the Transportation Master Plan for 35 years, and the Charlottesville City Council has been on record for most of that time as supporting the construction of the 29 Bypass. The people who have been opposing it are not the “liberals” in Charlottesville but the conservatives in Albemarle County whose neighborhoods would be destroyed by the road.

            The reason that it has not been built before now is that it would be an extremely expensive road that wouldn’t solve the problem that it was intended to solve. It is estimated that it will cost $250 million or more — over $40 million a mile — and that it won’t even be a true bypass. It will start in an area that is already congested, and will end in an area that is already congested. Opponents of the Bypass note that the north-south through traffic that would be helped by the Route 29 Bypass makes up only 10% of the traffic on Route 29. The problem from the local side is that people in Lynchburg and Danville — who would benefit from the through traffic — want Albemarle County to spend $250 million of road construction money allocated to solving OUR problems on a project that will not solve OUR problems — it will solve THEIR problems. So when the Secretary of Transportation promised last month to make sure that the exorbitant cost of the 29 Bypass (it’s expensive when you want to run the road through one of the ritziest subdivisions in the County) would not interfere with funding the transportation projects that the local community really needs, and that will help local traffic, the County Board of Supervisors reversed its long-standing opposition to the road.

            Also, for whatever it is worth — the road is an Albemarle County road. No part of it will enter the City of Charlottesville. It was a County Board of Supervisors meeting where John Grisham — a County resident — spoke against the road.