House Lawmakers Push for Infrastructure Improvement Programs

Some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle believe investments in transportation and infrastructure will help boost the nation's economy and add jobs. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the U.S. desperately needs infrastructure improvements. "The level of investment we're doing today, we're falling further and further behind," Oberstar said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, also had actively work on an economic recovery bill, with money for transportation and public works. Ms. Pelosi said this week that she would try to work with President Bush to “find bipartisan agreement on an economic recovery package.” She emphasized the need for “fiscal discipline,” and House leadership aides said that any bill passed this year was unlikely to provide more than $100 billion.

State officials said work on 3,000 highway projects could begin in 30 to 90 days, while mass transit would take about 90 days to begin $8 billion in projects.

The senior Republican on the committee, Representative John L. Mica of Florida, heartily endorsed the effort. “Every billion dollars of spending on highways and transportation projects results in 35,000 new jobs,” Mr. Mica said, using a figure in the midrange of estimates by economists. The total package will probably cost $200 billion to $300 billion, Mr. Mica predicted. Business executives and some economists said that such spending would increase economic activity, national income and productivity, thus generating revenue for the government.

Last month, the House passed a $60 billion stimulus package, half of which was for transportation and infrastructure projects. But the measure stalled in the Senate when President Bush indicated he would veto it.

While there is bipartisan support for long-term investments in public infrastructure, the debate has turned on how much and where. Some critics have also raised questions about where the new transportation dollars will come from and how far they would go to help the economy overall.

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/washington/30spend.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/congress/33545479.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUvDE7aL_V_BD77:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGcBHvnIaKwyq-VPObjMSdZvM4fgD944BPPGA