Dear Chamber members:
As you may know, the current extension of the federal highway and transit programs expire on February 28th. Senate Leadership has proposed an extension of the programs through December 31, 2010 to be included in the tax portion of the jobs bill. This extension would fund the highway and transit programs at the 2009 SAFETEA levels. In order to prevent the Highway Trust Fund from running out of money and bringing these programs to a screeching halt, the extension would have to include a $19.6 billion General Fund transfer.
If Congress continues with the present practice of short term extensions, states will be unable to plan for the 2010 construction season, which will force them to cut back on letting projects and cause additional, unnecessary job losses. Please tell your Senators that funding the SAFETEA extension through December 2010 will help protect much needed highway and transit projects and jobs.
· The construction industry needs the highway/transit extension and the $19 billion transfer passed.
· This $19 billion transfer from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) will repay the HTF for lost interest since 1998 and ensure the continuity of the underlying programs.
· Without the $19 billion transfer the highway account of the HTF will fall below the $4 billion threshold in May and completely run out of money in August.
· Extending the programs through the end of the year and transferring funds to cover the short fall will give states a chance to keep their highway/transit programs moving forward, help contractors keep their companies going and keep the unemployment rate in construction from going even higher.
· Failure to extend the program and transfer the funds will force a slowdown in federal reimbursements to states.
· The impact will be felt acutely in July which is the height of construction season.
· States will be on the hook to pay contractors or they will be in breach of contract.
· Keeping up with obligations while the federal government slows reimbursements will put additional strain on state budgets.
· States will slow down moving forward with new projects because of the funding uncertainty. This will cause additional job loss for the construction sector and their suppliers including heavy equipment manufacturers and materials distributors.
Please contact your Senators to let them know that you support Senate passage of a highway extension through December 2010 and Highway Trust Fund fix of $19 billion.
Thank you for your action on this important issue.
John M. Gonzales
Regional Manager | Congressional & Public Affairs
Southwest/South Central Region
