INSIDE WASHINGTON/New TEA time set

City and county leaders must wait until next year to learn how much money the federal government will dedicate to future transportation projects, after Congress failed to reauthorize a critical highway and transit bill. A feud between Congress and the White House over the final amount, as well as a disagreement over how to pay for it, forced the legislative branch to approve a short-term extension of the previous funding measure until new legislation is adopted sometime in the first quarter of 2004.

“We are trying to get it moving, but we are not having much progress now,” says Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., the senior Democratic representative on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW).

The White House sharply criticized Congress for failing to approve a six-year reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century [TEA-21]. The delay is likely to result in more funding for local governments as Congress has dismissed the administration’s $247 billion funding request and is working to raise that number to $375 billion for the next six years.

While city and county officials expressed disappointment that the bill did not pass, they added the wait would be worth it. “I think we would rather have it done right, than have it done quickly,” says Sandy Greyson, a member of the Dallas City Council.

EPW panel member Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, says he has heard little griping about the delay. “We are trying to work out the issue of financing, and I think all of them understand that,” Voinovich says.

The financing issue has split House Republican leaders, who are debating the idea of raising the gas tax and adjusting it to inflation to help pay for the road and transit bill. Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is the author of that measure, but he is facing fierce opposition from GOP leaders, namely House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who opposes raising taxes.

Congress is likely to prevail over the White House in the fight over funding, although it is difficult to determine if $375 billion will be the final figure until the gas tax debate is settled and the bill is approved.

Still, in the weeks before Congress approved the extension, the administration tried to pressure lawmakers to accept its $247 billion figure. “Americans cannot afford the added construction costs and potential job losses associated with congressional inaction,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. “I urge the Congress to fulfill its obligation to help state and local transportation leaders meet the needs of their communities.”

Mineta cited a survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials that claimed delaying passage of the six-year road and transit bill could delay construction projects and hurt state budgets. Tarrant County, Texas, Commissioner Glenn Whitley acknowledges that work might be temporarily slowed, but he thinks the delay will eventually work to the benefit of local governments. “Our infrastructure is failing, and we need them to get us the money as soon they can,” Whitley says. “Not only for the infrastructure, but the jobs that it will provide through the construction projects.”

The author is Washington correspondent for American City & County.