Released: February 6, 2008
Bush Proposes Budget Cuts
President Bush proposed cutting the budget of the U.S. Department of Transportation by more than 25 percent, according to the 2009 spending plan he unveiled Monday. "As we work to keep taxes low, we must do more to restrain spending," Bush stated in his proposed 2009 budget. He plans on slashing the DOT's discretionary funding by $4 billion from $15.5 billion in 2008 to $11.5 billion in 2009. Among the agencies that are slated for deep cuts are the Federal Railroad Administration, and the Federal Highway Administration. The full $3.1 trillion budget includes nearly an 8 percent increase in Department of Homeland Security funding.
Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said the budget proposal presents little that is new, and much that is disappointing. Projecting deficits of more than $400 billion and ignoring the cost of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the president called for spending restraint to support tax cuts. Some proposed restraints in transportation include:
- Cutting highway and transit grants to the states by $1 billion below the SAFETEA-LU guarantees
- Providing none of the $23 million in funding for 900 projects authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 2007
- Cutting $1.15 billion from Airport Improvement Program grants authorized by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007 passed by the House
- Zeroing out operating funds for Amtrak, and instead proposing $275 million for "Efficiency Incentive Grants."
Infrastructure Issues Users Oppose Highway Funding Cuts
Highway construction backers say the Bush administration's federal budget shortchanges American infrastructure needs with a proposed $2 billion in cuts in highway spending. The American Highway Users Alliance expressed concern that the administration seemed to have changed course since initially signing the current highway bill into law in 2005 with funding guarantees that were to continue through 2009.
"At a time when our nation's road and bridge infrastructure is falling into disrepair, congestion is stifling our economy and quality-of-life, and Americans are concerned about a potential recession, the Administration is going exactly the wrong way by cutting critical highway funding that keeps people and our economy moving," said Greg Cohen, president and CEO of AHUA in a recent Traffic World report. Cohen said his group favored the bipartisan plan developed by Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley to provide funding for highway programs. NASSTRAC members are so concerned about infrastructure issues that, last week at its leadership retreat in Atlanta, its Executive Committee established an Infrastructure Subcommittee that will review, analyze, and recommend to NASSTRAC’s Advocacy Committee how to respond to the recently released congressional commission national study on infrastructure issues.
Diesel Rises 2.1 Cents to $3.28 A Gallon
The average national price of retail diesel fuel rose 2.1 cents to $3.28 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported to NASSTRAC Monday. The increase followed three straight downturns in which the price of trucking’s main fuel had declined 11.7 cents, according to DOE figures. Meanwhile, gasoline, rose just 0.1 cent to $2.978 a gallon, leaving the price 78.7 cents higher than the same week last year. Diesel’s rise left the price 84.5 cents higher than a year ago. It rose in all five national regions, led by a 2.9-cent gain in the Gulf Coast, to $3.247 a gallon.
|
Industry News