What Would The GOP Spending Rollback Mean for Transportation?

Bipartisan industry leaders put out an urgent call for an overhauling transportation policy and the Congressional Budget Office reported that public spending on transportation and water infrastructure declined by 6% from 2003-2007. Read more in this issue of Infrastructure in the News.

National News

Press Release: Bipartisan Industry Leaders Issue Urgent Call for Overhauling Transportation Policy 
Members of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and the Bipartisan Policy Center's (BPC) National Transportation Policy Project today called on the Administration and Congress to implement an accountable, targeted, fiscally-responsible and performance-driven national transportation policy. The diverse group, whose membership includes former Republican and Democratic Senate and House members, mayors, business and civic leaders and transportation stakeholders and experts, called for new revenues to provide adequate investment in the nation's transportation infrastructure to advance specific national transportation goals.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: What the GOP Spending Rollback Would Mean for Transportation 
Back in September, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), now Speaker-elect, told Good Morning America he wanted to “pass a bill this month at 2008 spending levels – you know, before the TARP, before the bailouts, before the stimulus – and let’s put some certainty in the economy.”

For Construction Pros: Congressional Budget Office Reports 6% Drop in Real Spending on Water and Transportation Infrastructure form 2003 to 2007
Inflation-adjusted public spending on transportation and water infrastructure declined by $23 billion, or 6%, between 2003 and 2007, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office.

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: Would an Infrastructure Bank Have the Power to Reform Transportation?
But what about a National Infrastructure Bank, you ask? Transportation reformers are pushing — along with President Obama — for one to be established. Would such a bank be a more effective way to finance infrastructure projects than the TIFIA program? And would it lead the country to build better, more sustainable transportation systems?

Wall Street Journal: Munis Take Hit on Possible End of BAB Program 
Long-term tax-exempt municipal bonds fell Tuesday after President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders declined to include an extension of the popular Build America Bonds in a bill extending tax cuts for two years.

State News

TMJ4: Rail, Buses Championed by Government Officials
Can improving transit across Southeastern Wisconsin mean more jobs?

San Francisco Chronicle: Obstacles on the tracks with high-speed rail 
California voters signed off on a generational big idea: build a fast and futuristic high-speed rail system linking the state's population centers. Now comes the hard part of working out the route, lining up the money, and managing a sprawling project never tried before.

Henrico Citizen: VDOT to Advertise $1.1B in Road Projects
Governor Bob McDonnell today announced that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will advertise an estimated $1.1 billion in construction and maintenance projects during the first six months of Fiscal Year 2011. The estimated economic impact of the work is 33,900 jobs created or supported, as well as $2.83 billion in economic activity and $282.5 million in taxes that will come back to the state.

The Grand Island Indepdent: State highway and bridge funding faces drastic shortfalls 
Nebraska's economic prosperity is being threatened by deteriorating infrastructure of roads and bridges, according to officials with Nebraska on the Move.

NewsOK: Keep an eye on transportation as federal budget gets cut
With our country facing mounting debt, all items in the federal budget are on the chopping block. States must compete with others to obtain federal funding across all sectors.