The Hudson Valley construction industry, pummeled by job losses since the recession, could be in for yet another blow if Congress fails to pass a long-term transportation funding measure that could create 113,000 jobs in New York state.
Talks under way since May between the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives over a long-term extension of the federal transportation appropriations bill have stalled over a disagreement on how the measure should be funded.
With the current bill set to expire June 30, Senate and House leaders have set a mid-June deadline for any long-term agreement to be reached.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio last week proposed a six-month extension of the current bill if the stalemate drags on, which would effectively make transportation funding a non-issue until after the November election.
Several New York Democrats and transportation and construction industry advocates have said such a short-term extension is not adequate.
“Traditionally, the way to get an economy going and jump-started is to get our roads and bridges built, and they need repairs here and everywhere else,” said Sen. Charles Schumer at a June 4 breakfast hosted by the Business Council of Westchester.
“This is close to happening,” Schumer said. “We just need the House leadership to stand up to the small but very ideologically fervent group that says we shouldn”™t have a highway bill.”
Schumer is on the 47-member conference committee tasked with reconciling separate versions of the surface transportation bill that have been passed by the House and Senate.
In March, the Senate passed an 18-month extension of the highway bill by a bipartisan 74-22 majority that would maintain current funding for highway and mass transit projects that are eligible for federal aid.
Additionally, the bill prescribes a funding level of at least $1 billion under the Transportation Infrastructure, Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), which provides for direct loans and loan guarantees to vital national infrastructure projects such as a new Tappan Zee Bridge.
Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey of Harrison said it is “absolutely vital” for a long-term agreement, and called on Boehner to bring the Senate measure to a vote should the conference committee fail to come to a consensus.
Lowey is co-sponsor of a House version that mirrors the Senate-passed legislation that would support the creation of 113,000 jobs in New York state without adding to the federal deficit, she said in an email.
Thirteen members of New York”™s congressional delegation, plus Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, addressed a letter to the members of the conference committee in May requesting that TIFIA funding be preserved should Congress resort to a short-term extension.
Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth of Mount Kisco, one of the 14 signers, said she supports the conference committee”™s efforts and said she would like to see the Keystone Pipeline ”“ sought by many members of her caucus ”“ accounted for in any long-term bill.
New York state transportation officials and industry advocates are concerned about how another short-term extension ”“ which would be the 10th consecutive temporary measure ”“ would affect ongoing and future transportation projects.
“It”™s not a good situation right now because the state is actually breathing on fumes when it comes to federal funds,” said Ross J. Pepe, president of the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley Inc. “It”™s a serious problem and New York is very vulnerable ”“ not only on the transportation, highway and bridge side but also on the mass transit side of the equation.”
“We”™re hoping Congress can pull it together, but at the moment it doesn”™t appear they will,” Pepe said.
Lowey, Pepe and other industry representatives and elected officials addressed the media June 14 in Elmsford, reiterating calls for a long-term highway bill.
While most of the New York State Thruway Authority”™s budget is funded through toll revenue, the state Department of Transportation depends largely on federal funding for capital projects.
Additionally, plans to finance a new Tappan Zee Bridge, which is estimated to cost $5.2 billion, stand to be affected by whichever route Congress takes.
New York state had sought a $2 billion federal TIFIA loan for the bridge”™s development, but the state was not invited by the U.S. Department of Transportation to apply for such a loan under the current round of funding. State transportation officials have said they would continue to seek federal assistance during the next round of TIFIA disbursements.
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