Obama to Congress: Step on it, and pass highway bill!
When Congress returns from its August recess next week, it will have a few short weeks to pass a highway funding bill and a Federal Aviation Administration bill before they expire, potentially costing the government billions of dollars and leaving hundreds of thousands without jobs.
"That's inexcusable," President Obama said today from the White House, where he was joined by business and labor leaders urging Congress to pass the bills.
"At a time when a lot of people in Washington are talking about creating jobs, it's time to stop the political gamesmanship that could actually cost us jobs," Mr. Obama said.
The Surface Transportation Bill provides funding for highway construction, bridge repairs and other infrastructure projects. If Congress doesn't act by Sept. 30, the authorization will expire and the the government would be unable to collect the 18.4 cents per gallon gas tax. More than 4,000 workers would be immediately furloughed without pay. Over the course of the year, nearly one million workers could lose construction and other jobs related to the bill, if it's not passed.
The president said it was unacceptable to put more jobs at risk in an industry that's already been one of the hardest hit in the last decade, particularly when so much infrastructure is in need of repair.
Mr. Obama also urged Congress to pass a long-term extension of an FAA funding bill. The FAA partially shut down for more than a week in late July after Congress failed to pass an extension of the agency's budget authorization. After losing about $30 million a day in uncollected airline ticket taxes, Congress finally reached an agreement in late August to extend FAA funding through Sept. 16.
The president said that this is the right moment to be funding new transportation measures -- when interest rates are low and workers are unemployed. He also said it was time to reform the way infrastructure projects are funded.
"We need to stop funding projects based on whose districts they're in," Mr. Obama said. "No more bridges to nowhere."
