<<  <  >  >>

Page 9

105th Congress.  And Congress has responded to the promise

of pork with gusto: Individual members have proposed hun-

dreds of expensive projects in their districts.  The demand

for seats at the table when the decisions are made has been

so great that the House Transportation and Infrastructure

Committee, with 73 members, has become by far the largest

committee in Congress.  At 50 members, the House Subcommit-

tee on Surface Transportation may be one of the largest

subcommittees in congressional history.

Proposals for Change

Three basic proposals for reauthorization have been on

the table:

· "NEXTEA," proposed by the administration, basically

would continue ISTEA for another six years.

· "Step 21" is an alternative favored by those states

that end up "donating" more in gas taxes than they

receive in federal funding.  This proposal requires

that each state get at least 95 percent of the funds it

pays into the highway fund.  It also reduces ISTEA's

many categories of funds to two: a highway fund and a

flexible "surface transportation" fund.

· "TEA-2," sponsored by Mack and Kasich, would devolve

most policy decisions and funds back to the states.  It

would eliminate all but about 6 cents of the federal

gas tax.  Four cents would still go to deficit reduc-

tion, and 2 cents would be dedicated to maintenance of

the interstate system.  The states could then increase

gas or other taxes and make their own decisions about

transportation funding.

Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure, has made no secret of his

opposition to devolution.  "There is a clear federal role in

transportation which must be maintained and strengthened,"

he says.  His main goal is to get the trust fund "off bud-

get" so that, except for the 4 cent deficit-reduction tax,

it is protected from raids by other congressional commit-

tees.

ISTEA Interest Groups

Five different interest groups are making common cause

to renew ISTEA: