Key senators this week said they have stopped pursuing an 18-month extension requested by the White House, and are now instead focused on getting the six-month extension enacted before Dec. 18 and then working early next year to move a long-term measure favored by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The developments come with four weeks remaining until federal authority to spend money on highway, bridge, transit, and safety programs is set to expire. The previous transportation law, known as "SAFETEA-LU," lapsed Sept. 30. Congress has kept the programs alive through two continuing resolutions, the latest of which ends Dec. 18. Because of two rescissions that took place last fiscal year, state departments of transportation are receiving 30 percent less money for highways and bridges since the continuing resolutions have been based on the Fiscal Year 2009 net contract authority amounts.

"States are losing millions of dollars at a time when they can least afford it," said John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "States have been forced to furlough and lay off workers, scale back projects, or stop them altogether. These rescissions are cutting deep."

The letter to Reid and McConnell urges the leadership to file a cloture motion to force floor debate on the six-month extension. The letter was signed by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-CA; Sen. James Inhofe, R-OK, the EPW Committee's ranking minority member; Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-CT; Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, the BHUA Committee's ranking minority member; Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-WV; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, the CST Committee's ranking minority member; and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-MT.

"Short-term extensions mean less money is available for states, and do not provide states the certainty they need to keep crucial transportation projects moving forward," the letter states. "On a bipartisan basis, we have decided to move forward with a six-month extension. Unfortunately, a small number of senators continue to object and will not allow an extension to be considered by the Senate without a cloture vote. We urge you to file cloture on the motion to proceed on the six-month extension and dedicate the time necessary to complete this important legislation so we can put Americans back to work and keep our economy moving."

It's unclear whether the senators will succeed in getting the extension bill to the floor before Dec. 18. The Senate is expected to bring up a major healthcare reform bill for debate as soon as this weekend. That debate is expected to consume several weeks of floor time. The Senate also has numerous appropriations bills to finish before a Dec. 18 deadline.

Long-Term Bill Could Happen Next Spring

During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting Wednesday, Boxer indicated her committee and the other authorizing committees will try to finish a long-term bill by spring if they get the six-month extension passed by next month.

During Wednesday's meeting, Boxer urged U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari and Undersecretary for Policy Roy Kienitz to encourage Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to get personally involved in seeking to end the congressional stalemate over the transportation authorization measure. LaHood did not attend Wednesday's meeting because he is in Russia. A spokesman for Inhofe said the ranking minority member spoke with LaHood by telephone Wednesday and echoed Boxer's plea for the secretary to get more involved. LaHood has thus far been steadfast in promoting the administration's support for an 18-month extension so that a long-term transportation authorization, and the difficult question of how to pay for a greatly expanded program, can be delayed until 2011.

Boxer indicated now that her committee has completed its work on a climate-change measure, a transportation bill is the next priority. Enacting a six-year measure will take time, however, she said, meaning the six-month extension is necessary first to allow work on the longer-term measure.

Critical for state transportation departments, the Senate's proposed six-month extension would restore contract authority lost as a result of two rescissions that took place during FY 2009. Those actions have reduced baseline highway funding by about $12 billion, or $1 billion per month -- a 30 percent reduction.

Porcari said during Wednesday's meeting that the administration still supports an 18-month extension but that a six-month extension is preferable over continuing the programs through short-term extensions such as the one-month and seven-week measures enacted in recent months since SAFETEA-LU expired Sept. 30.

Even if senators are successful in moving the six-month extension through their chamber, it's unknown how the House would respond. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-MN, has previously expressed opposition to a six-month extension. Oberstar favors completing a six-year bill by the end of this year, perhaps as part of a job-creation package currently being considered by Democratic leaders. (see related story)

AASHTO Urges Quick Resolution; Michigan Demonstrates Impact of Short-Term Extensions

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials continues to emphasize the need to enact a robust multiyear authorization measure as soon as possible.

"The future economic health of our country depends on sustained and proactive investment in our transportation systems," Horsley said. "In fact, chronic underfunding of our current transportation system has led us to the point where one-quarter of the nation's major urban roads are in poor condition, one out of four bridges either needs significant repair or is too narrow to handle today's traffic, and half of the nation's transit buses and rail cars have exceeded their service life or will do so within the next six years."

As an example of the current needs, Horsley points to the massive demand among state transportation departments for federal project funds compared to the tiny supply of such funds. States recently submitted 1,400 grant requests totaling $57 billion to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a recovery act program that has only $1.5 billion in funding available. Separately, states have submitted another $57 billion in applications for high-speed and intercity passenger rail grants -- a program that has only $8 billion in funding available.

"Transportation dollars create physical assets that will last 50 to 100 years, building a foundation for a modern, globally competitive America, one that will enable current and future generations to sustain their families and enjoy an unprecedented quality of life," Horsley said. "Surely this is a goal our federal government should pursue."

The impacts of short-term authorization extensions and the 30 percent cut in funding availability are being felt by state DOTs across the nation. One example is the Wadhams Road Bridge Project in Port Huron, MI.

Because of the short-term extensions of SAFETEA-LU, the project, originally due to be let in January 2010, will need to be delayed until sufficient obligation authority for the $7.7 million in federal funds is available for the project, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. A much larger impact of this delay will be felt when the $45 million reconstruction of the junction of Interstates 69 and 94, where Wadhams Road would serve as a detour route, will need to be postponed until the bridge work is complete.

Michigan currently does not have sufficient funding in the appropriate bridge categories to allow the Wadhams Road project to be obligated. If federal apportionments continue to be released at their current rate, the state is not expected to accumulate enough federal apportionments to allow the project to be obligated until well past the planned January let date.

Also, in order to accrue the $7.7 million needed for this project, Michigan will not be able to obligate federal funds to other local bridge projects, potentially delaying a number of other important projects.

The Wadhams Road Bridge Project underscores just a few of the problems created when states are forced to deliver projects and programs under a piecemeal approach to federal funding that is created by short-term extensions. Because MDOT is not likely to have sufficient federal funds available when needed, a delay in this one project will cause reverberations throughout the state and for a number of years into the future.