Chamber starts lobbying blitz on highway bill
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday set off a lobbying blitz on Capitol Hill to build support for the stalled highway bill.
The trade association says the transportation reauthorization would jumpstart the struggling economy by creating jobs to rebuild the nation's crumbling highways, railroads and transit systems. A $500 billion, six-year proposal by Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has the Chamber's backing but has suffered from a lack of momentum among lawmakers concerned about the cost of the bill.
Ways and Means committee puts Oberstar's highway bill on hold for health legislation
Rep. Jim Oberstar's (D-Minn.) ambitious plan to finish a new highway bill before the end of year is running into a roadblock of his party's own making: the massive overhaul of the nation's healthcare system. The House Ways and Means Committee is swamped with healthcare, President Obama's highest legislative priority. That means the panel doesn't have the time to work on tax measures that would pay for the $500 billion highway bill that otherwise falls under the purview of Oberstar's Transportation Committee.
"You have to believe me. Everything I am doing is health, health and health," Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) told The Hill. He said he can't yet talk about how to fund the highway bill, but added that "it is very important and it's on the front burner." Several of Rangel's colleagues on the panel were less optimistic, and cast doubt on whether the committee had time for another large undertaking this year given their responsibility on healthcare.