With an administration running scared from any form a tax increase, gas prices on the rise, a Congress at odds with itself on how to reduce the deficit, and an election on the horizon, the long-delayed reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) appears to be paying the price of these clashing politics forces.

On April 2, the House of Representatives approved a $283 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill (H.R. 3550) by a vote of 357-to-65, more than enough to override a threatened presidential veto. Final passage of the bill, which guarantees $275 billion over six years — greatly scaled back from a package that Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Committee leadership has promoted for two years with overwhelming support from the federal construction lobby — capped-off two days of debate on federal transportation policy and a series of mostly parochial amendments.

The House adopted only a few amendments, none of which change the underlying structure of the bill approved by the T&I Committee last week. A House-Senate conference committee is expected to convene later in April month to negotiate a final bill.

Even before the final vote, American Road & Transportation Builders Association President and CEO Pete Ruane reacted to the House's preliminarily announced funding reduction in a statement: “We share the view expressed by the [T&I] Committee that the $275 billion investment level is not sufficient to meet documented transportation needs. The [$318 billion] Senate-passed bill should be considered the investment floor.”

Initial House floor debate on the legislation was set to begin on March 31, but dissention among House Republicans from so-called donor states (i.e., those that pay more fuel tax revenue to the highway trust fund than they receive back) forced Republican House leaders to further address state apportionment issues. The untimely release of the administration's veto threat of the underlying bill only added to the uproar.

The House-approved bill provides $217.4 billion for highway and bridge programs, $51.5 billion for transit programs, and $5 billion for safety programs. The bill sets the federal-aid highway obligation ceiling at $33.6 billion in FY 2004, $34.6 billion in FY 2005, $35.6 billion in FY 2006, $36.7 billion in FY 2007, $37.8 billion in FY 2008, and $38.9 billion in FY 2009. The annual rate of growth of highway obligations is about 3% per year.

The legislation also includes a “re-opener” provision in which apportioned highway funds would stop flowing to the states by the end of FY 2005 unless Congress increases the minimum guarantee of funds going back to the states above the 90.5% level included in the underlying bill. If the $275 billion funding level holds through the House-Senate conference, it would represent an increase of about 20 % over TEA-21 funding levels.

The fate of the six-year, $375 billion package — which T&I Chairman Don Young (R-AK) and colleagues formally unveiled in November as the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users — appeared sealed on March 10. In a briefing, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) announced that representatives would try to move on the revised $275 billion bill. Hastert's announcement came five weeks after Bush administration officials indicated the potential for a veto on any highway reauthorization bill containing funding mechanisms that were key to House and Senate versions. The Senate nevertheless proceeded with passage of a $318 billion reauthorization plan in mid-February, setting the stage for a compromise version to be prepared in Senate-House conference.