Rep. Oberstar’s big bill: proposed Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 released today

Rep. Jim Oberstar (DFL-MN8) has been in the trenches of transportation policy for quite some time; after the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Oberstar talked about the importance of shoring up America’s deteriorating infrastructure through improved, more efficient funding arrangements and better planning. Of course, with so much money involved (not to mention the force of Detroit’s anti-transit lobbying), national transportation policy has never been an agile, forward-looking operation.

Enter today’s new Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 [PDF-775 pages!], Oberstar’s ambitious bid to create a more consolidated, multi-modal platform for planning and funding, well, all surface transportation. It’s a half-trillion-dollar, six-year plan, about as big as they come. In Congress, the big transportation agenda tends to simply get kicked downfield with ad-hoc extensions; in this case, Oberstar’s coming into conflict with the Obama Administration, which currently would prefer extending the existing patchwork legislation for 18 months, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Oberstar wants this thing on it’s way within a few months — so what happens next?

The bill handles both policy and appropriations — noticeably, many dollar figures aren’t filled in yet. Looking for an overview that’s shorter than 700 pages? As we posted earlier this week, here’s the short summary and the blueprint for program consolidation. The local transit advocacy group, Transit for Livable Communities, has been quite positive about Oberstar’s approach, and they’re partnered with Transportation for America, a coalition of similar groups. It reminds us a bit of the local gas tax hike advocacy led by Progress in Motion and the Transportation Alliance; as everyone should recall, in-state transportation finance was quite the Gordian Knot for all concerned.

One Response to “Rep. Oberstar’s big bill: proposed Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 released today”

1. Anonymous Says:
   June 24th, 2009 at 1:48 pm

   ROTFLMFAO