State May Score a Windfall in Transit Funds

WASHINGTON — A gargantuan transportation bill that could determine the state of the nation’s roads and transit lines into the next century was unveiled Thursday by a key House committee, with some declaring California had scored a windfall.

The $103-billion bill--second only to Medicaid as the largest federal grant bestowed on the states by Congress--would give California an average of $2.2 billion in federal funds for highway projects over the next three years, a 49% increase over what it received last year.

There could be millions of dollars more for a variety of other transit projects.

The bill must pass the House and Senate before it becomes law. But it is considered to have an inside track over competing legislation because it was introduced by Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), the powerful committee chairman who holds the purse strings on federal highway funds in the House.

“No matter how you look at it, California is going to get more money. We got everything we asked for and more,” said Rep. Jay Kim (R-Diamond Bar), a prominent transportation committee member.

Although many legislators said they needed time to analyze the figures, the bill appeared at first blush to give California a welcomed increase in federal money, primarily because of new funding formulas. The current transportation law divvied up the federal pot based on 1980 census figures. The new bill would use the most current census data, reflecting the state’s steady population growth, experts said.

“This bill is a tremendous boost for California because it recognizes and updates factors like population, poor air quality and the enormous number of vehicle miles traveled by California residents,” said Jeff Nelligan, transportation committee spokesman.

In addition, the bill would create a bigger pool of money by unlocking some of the transportation tax dollars that have been held back to offset the deficit, a tactic Shuster has repeatedly decried as “a shell game.”

The current six-year bill expires at the end of this month as transportation demands are expected to explode in California; officials predict that airport cargo will triple and port cargo will double in the next 20 years, meaning more air pollution, rail traffic and diesel trucks that move freight along California’s already backed-up freeways.

State officials are looking to this year’s federal transportation bill for relief. The version Congress is supposed to pass by the end of the year will help determine the quality of life on California’s roads and rails.

Which projects would win funding has yet to be determined and California has a long wish list. But Shuster’s bill would boost the available funds for a variety of the state’s pressing transportation needs, including expansion of border infrastructure and air quality improvement. It also holds millions for transit projects such as Metro Rail, which appeared to have escaped threatened cuts, although precise figures were not immediately available.

Some state officials withheld celebration, noting that the bill falls short of compensating the transportation burden California bears as a corridor for trade that brings goods to other states.

With four busy seaports, several major airports and a proximity to the Pacific Rim and Mexico, California helps energize the global economy but pays a price in jammed freeways, backed-up rail lines and smog, some argue.

“This bill is moving in the right direction,” said Mark Pisano, executive director of the Southern California Assn. of Governments. But he noted that California is not fully compensated for the amount of freight that moves through the state. “We need to make more progress,” he said.

The bulk of the federal highway money comes from the 18.3-cent gasoline tax motorists pay at the pump. Californians, because they drive so much, contribute more than 10% of the total fund.

The money accumulates in a trust fund that is divided according to a formula set by Congress. The battle over transportation dollars is always a slugfest because the money helps create jobs and produces popular roads, bridges and safety projects that legislators can cite when election time rolls around.

An initial review of the bill showed that over the next three years, California would receive part of $270 million for infrastructure at the nation’s borders. That issue has been a sore point among state leaders who say the North American Free Trade Agreement has increased truck traffic in and out of Mexico and left the state to pay for road expansion and other needs.

The bill also includes nearly $900 million for air quality improvement for California, by far the largest share of any state and double the previous funding level. The money would pay for projects such as clean-burning buses, bike paths, carpool lanes and other innovations aimed at reducing pollution.

The bill is scheduled to come to the House floor as early as this month, and signs of conflict are already evident. Environmentalists might object to a provision that gives states flexibility in how they spend their share of the pot, allowing funds reserved for environmental projects to be spent on roads.

Although the bill’s price tag would not exceed the amount of money in the federal highway trust fund, it does surpass the level of transportation spending agreed to in the budget resolution.

Indeed, if transportation spending continues at the same rate after the bill expires in three years, it would exceed what Congress and the White House have agreed to in their five-year budget plan.

“We are taking a gamble that more money will be available in the fund after the three years are up. The economy is improving. We think it will be there,” Kim said.