Peter DeFazio and others on Capital Hill are concerned that the funding going towards highway construction and transit in the stimulus package may mean delays or worse for the upcoming $600 billion surface transportation bill.
"'I'm very worried about it,' said Peter A. DeFazio , D-Ore., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
'I think a lot of people are going to sober up a bit and they'll look at how much we've borrowed and it will be fiscal conservatism time,' DeFazio said.
The House version of the stimulus (HR 1) provides $30 billion for highways and bridges and $12 billion for transit, about equal to a year's worth of federal spending for surface transportation under current law (PL 109-59). The Senate's version is slightly less.
Some transportation advocates also fear that lawmakers will use the stimulus as an excuse not to rush completion of a highway bill, which could cost as much as $600 billion over five years."
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