The Democratic-led Congress' determination to reform health care this year has slowed legislation affecting the safety of almost every traveler in America.
Barring a miracle, lawmakers acknowledge they lack the time or the political capital to act on new bills to bring major improvements and more money to those strained, underfunded infrastructure systems. So, on Wednesday the House of Representatives is expected simply to extend existing surface and air transportation programs through the end of the year.
Reauthorizing surface transportation and Federal Aviation Administration programs faces roadblocks even without the time-consuming dominance of the health care debate. Both transportation priorities, however, have been affected directly by the battle over health care.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House has been poised for months to introduce a six-year, $500 billion bill to cover highway and public transit construction, repair and safety. It has been thwarted by the Senate and the White House, reluctant to take up another massive spending bill that may require a tax increase of its own at a time when people are talking about $1 trillion in spending for health care.
A highway bill also must wait for the Ways and Means Committee, now preoccupied with health care spending, to put together a revenue section for it. That committee is directly responsible for drafting U.S. tax laws.
The situation is similar for the FAA bill. The House passed a bill in May that authorized $70 billion for the FAA over three years. The Senate Commerce Committee in July approved a two-year, $35 billion bill. Both measures concentrate money on the NextGen satellite-based air traffic control system that will make U.S. airways significantly safer and more efficient.
But the Senate Finance Committee, which is at the heart of the health care debate, has yet to complete work on the tax provisions in the FAA bill.
Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, believes the FAA has broad bipartisan support, and it is critical for the Senate act on it this calendar year, said his spokeswoman, Jena Longo. But "floor time is of great concern," she said.
Even if the Senate acts, serious policy differences would have to be worked out with the House. The House bill, for example, would allow airports to raise passenger facility charges from $4.50 to $7 a ticket. It also has angered the European Union by directing U.S. inspectors to conduct more inspections of overseas aircraft repair stations. Another provision of the House bill would make it easier for unions to organize FedEx truck drivers and other nonaviation employees.
Both House and the Senate bills have provisions to improve the rights of air travelers, but the Senate Commerce version specifies that an air carrier must provide passengers the option to deplane after three hours of waiting on a runway.
The main issue with the surface transportation bill is money. Highway work is supposed to be fully funded by the federal gasoline and diesel taxes that drivers pay at the pump. That tax has stood since 1993 at 18.4 cents a gallon (3.8 liters), or 24.3 cents for diesel and is no longer able to cover the needs of the nation's seriously overcrowded roads and bridges.
Congress has resisted suggestions that the tax be raised. The Senate, joined by the White House, supports an 18-month extension of the current act, pushing consideration of the revenue issue until after the 2010 election.
House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, also a Democrat, has opposed in futility that long of an extension. "I know how Congress works. Inertia becomes the enemy of progress," he said during the summer.
Congress in 2008 had to shore up the highway trust fund with $8 billion from the general treasury and come back with another $7 billion this year. The fund could come up another $125 billion short during the next six years without an increase in fuel taxes.
"The last thing we need is a series of short-term extensions because all that does is create uncertainty in the marketplace. It takes away states' ability to plan," said Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of Associated General Contractors of America.
The American Road & Transportation Builders Association says there are other indirect costs of inaction, including poor road conditions that it says are a contributing factor in one-third of the 43,000 annual highway fatalities. Traffic gridlock, alone, amounts to an annual $78 billion "hidden tax" on the American economy and productivity, the group says.
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