Chamber starts lobbying blitz on highway bill
Kevin Bogardus | The Hill | July 15, 2009
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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.
We say it creates jobs. It will help us deal with the effects of this recession," said Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the Chamber. "The bill is urgent. We have to do it."
More than 100 Chamber members from 28 states headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with lawmakers and call for action on the highway bill. In addition, a letter was sent to all members of Congress stressing the urgency of passing the bill.
The fly-in visits are coupled with an advertising campaign in the Washington area and billboards in Alabama, California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Washington calling for action on the highway bill.
Donohue was joined by Steve Odland, chairman of the board and CEO of Office Depot, at a news conference Wednesday to discuss the renewed lobbying push. Both executives warned that delaying the transportation reauthorization, which expires on Sept. 30, would increase the country's infrastructure costs greatly.
"Every six months, every 18 months we wait, we're doubling what it takes," Donohue said.
Beyond the looming expiration date is the expected bankruptcy of the Highway Trust Fund. Experts anticipate that the fund, which finances repairs and construction for the nation's highway system, will run out on Aug. 21 this year because of revenue declines from the federal gas tax, which pays for it. That could halt several construction projects across the country, putting more jobs in jeopardy.
Odland said his company is heavily dependent on the nation's roads for its business, making a half-million deliveries to customers across the country every week.
"An adequate transportation system is absolutely necessary to have economic growth and job growth," Odland said.
But despite the heft of business support behind the legislation, Oberstar will have to contend with a number of lawmakers and members of the Obama administration who have called for delay, not action, on the highway bill.
Worries over an increase in the gas tax during a recession, which could set back the unemployed even more, have led Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to call for an 18-month extension of the current law instead of supporting the Minnesota Democrat's more expansive proposal. The House Ways and Means Committee, which must find a way to pay for the highway bill, is preoccupied with Obama's signature healthcare proposal, among other big-ticket policy issues.
Odland, as a commissioner on the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, has recommended raising the gas tax to help pay for the new highway bill.
"We are willing to pay more," Odland said. "We view it as a user fee. We don't view it as a tax."
The Chamber has also come out for a gas tax increase to help fund repairs and construction for the nation's transportation system. Donohue downplayed the political risks in raising the gas tax during an economic downturn.
"People will stop worrying about it after two days and we will be back to building roads," the Chamber CEO and president said. Instead, he said, lawmakers would face more anger from their constituents if the nation's highways continue to fall into disrepair.
Both Donohue and Odland said Oberstar's highway bill could act as a second stimulus package by creating new jobs and easing traffic.
"In a way, this is a shovel-ready plan. It's already packaged and ready to go," Odland said.