Earth Equity News

Scraping the Bottom of the Highway Trust Fund Barrel. By Eric M. Weiss, WashPost, September 6, 2008. "U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the nation's highway trust fund will run out of money this month, which means that federal payments to states for construction projects could be cut. Yesterday, Peters asked Congress to come up with an $8 billion infusion for the [fund, which is] used to help pay for highway and bridge projects. The House has already passed such legislation. The trust has been hammered because its main source of funding is the gas tax, which has not been increased since the Clinton administration. The high cost of gasoline has resulted in less consumption and, therefore, fewer dollars flowing into the trust fund... 'Americans cannot afford to have Congress play kick the can with highway funding for another year, another month or, frankly, another week,' [Peters said]... Concern... has been building. The Bush administration had opposed the $8 billion infusion because it would have come out of the general fund without corresponding cuts... [but] has reversed its opposition to the House plan because the situation has become so grim. 'What's especially shocking to the states is that they can't count on the federal government,' said John Horsley... of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. 'It will worsen the financial crises many states are already facing'... Peters warned Congress not to lard up highway legislation with earmarks for specific projects. She said the last transportation bill passed by Congress contained 6,000 earmarks totaling $24 billion."