HR 2847, the "Jobs for Main Street Act," contains several other important transportation provisions including an extension of surface transportation authorization through Sept. 30, 2010. (see related story)

The bill would appropriate $27.5 billion for highways and $8.4 billion for mass transit, matching amounts provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that Congress passed in February. Amtrak would receive $800 million from the jobs package while airports would get $500 million and shipyards $100 million.

House approval of the bill, on a vote of 217-212, came two weeks after the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials identified more than 9,500 highway, bridge, transit, rail, port, aviation, and intermodal projects worth $70 billion that, if funded by Congress, could be used to create hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.

"With the jobless rate in the construction sector at 19.4 percent, Congress can ill afford to stand by and do nothing," AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley said Thursday. "Passing a jobs bill that funds infrastructure projects will continue the momentum created by the recovery act. Next year, if the Senate approves this legislation, we'll be ready to put thousands of people back to work. AASHTO is looking forward to working with the Senate and the administration to pass a jobs bill as quickly as possible and to craft a new long-term highway and transit program that will keep America moving in the right direction."

Funding for job-creation projects would be available at a 100 percent federal share; no state matching contribution would be required. This is the same rule that governs recovery act spending. Half of job-creation funds would have to be under contract within 90 days; the recovery act stipulated that half of funds must be obligated within 120 days.

The bill's total price tag is estimated at $154 billion with $79 billion funding an extension of unemployment benefits and health insurance for the jobless. Another $75 billion would go toward job-creation efforts including $48.3 billion for transportation and other infrastructure projects such as schools and water. This is close to the $50 billion in infrastructure spending the Obama administration called for last week (see Dec. 11 AASHTO Journal story) but falls short of the needs state transportation departments have identified (see Dec. 4 AASHTO Journal story). Money to pay for the job creation projects would be taken from unspent Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.

"Each of these investments is paid for -- we use the Wall Street bailout funds to rebuild Main Street," said House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-MN. "The transportation and infrastructure investments of the recovery act have already played a key role in putting Americans back to work. Federal agencies, states, and their local partners have demonstrated they can deliver transportation and infrastructure projects and create urgently needed employment in the tight timeframes set forth in the recovery act."

In his prepared floor statement, Oberstar cited AASHTO's survey, released earlier this month, that state transportation departments have 7,497 "ready to go" highway and bridge projects worth $47.3 billion. He also cited the American Public Transportation Association's survey that there are $15 billion of mass transit projects ready for quick construction.

Infrastructure advocates praised the House action.

"These investments in America's crumbling infrastructure in the short term will give Congress the necessary time to pass a six-year, reformed transportation bill that changes the way we invest in our transportation infrastructure in the long term," said Marcia Hale, president of Building America's Future, a bipartisan group that advocates for greater federal infrastructure spending. "The Senate will act on this bill in January and we will continue to pursue smart investments and key policy reforms that will spend scarce resources more wisely in a variety of infrastructure areas."

Hale called on the Senate to add a national infrastructure bank to the jobs package. Creation of such a bank is supported by President Barack Obama.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, said she's hopeful the Senate will pass jobs legislation early next year and Obama can sign it into law before his State of the Union address.

Details of the transportation spending in the jobs bill include:

• Of the $27.5 billion in highway investment, $26.66 billion would be distributed by formula among the states for activities eligible under the Surface Transportation Program. Of this subtotal, $8 billion would be sent by formula to areas within the state based on population, $800 million would be set aside for transportation enhancement activities, and $17.86 billion would be available for use anywhere in the state.
• Priority shall be given to projects that are projected for completion within three years and that are located in economically distressed areas. States would be required to maintain an equitable geographic distribution of projects within the state, and to ensure an appropriate balance between rural and urban areas.
• Of the $8.4 billion in transit funds, $6.15 billion would be available for transit capital assistance through urban and rural formula grants while $100 million would be available for energy-efficiency grants.
• $1.75 billion of transit funds would go toward fixed guideway modernization and $500 million for New Starts capital projects.
• Amtrak could use its $800 million allocation for fleet modernization.