Major transpo bill in the works?

Secretary LaHood hopeful

Vilas Bhuchar, May 06, 11.

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood suggested that lawmakers could pass a new transportation bill before the year is over, according to the Charleston Daily Mail:

The head of the nation’s transportation system said during a stop in Charleston on Monday that Republicans and Democrats in Washington could come together this year to pass a major new transportation bill.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said during a speech to a group of transportation officials that the Obama administration viewed the bill as way to put Americans to work.

“We need a transportation bill because it will be a jobs bill,” he said.

The bill would set the nation’s transportation priorities for the next six years.

And bill isn’t just for highways, so there will be numerous fights that could potentially change how Americans get from place to place — the White House wants to invest billions in high-speed rail, for instance.

Known as the highway reauthorization bill, Congress last passed a similar measure in 2005 and it expired in September 2009. Transportation money has been flowing under a series of temporary extensions ever since.

But it’s becoming clear the key battle will be how to fund whatever mix of infrastructure spending Congress passes, with Democrats calling for upgrades of deteriorating roads and Republicans urging efforts to reign in spending across the board.

LaHood praised lawmakers for putting aside partisan differences to pass previous highway bills.

“There are no Democrat or Republican roads,” he said.

He cited, in particular, the 2009 stimulus bill that included $48 billion for transportation projects. LaHood left unmentioned that no Republicans in the U.S. House voted for the bill and only two Republicans senators backed it.

LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, himself questioned GOP plans to reign in the debt and deficit by dramatically cutting spending.

“You don’t take your entire check and pay it against your credit card,” he said.