STPP Hosts ISTEA Reauthorization Strategy Meeting in Washington
The Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) hosted a meeting of transportation advocates from around the U.S. in Washington on December 5. The gathering had been organized some time ago as a strategy discussion for the reauthorization of ISTEA, but focused more on potential threats to federal transit funding and progressive planning provisions like transportation funding flexibility stemming from Republican ascendance in Congress. The meeting began with a discussion with Congressional committee staff members, including Republican staff from the House Public Works Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. For an outside the beltway participant, it was surprising that the rhetoric of the Contract with America, regulatory flexibility, resurgent property rights, unfunded mandates, risk assessment, and so on had penetrated so thoroughly to this level. The Republicans said that despite concern for efficiency, transit was often high on their budget-cutting lists because of concerns over spend-out, or the slow pace at which appropriated transit money is actually spent, and over studies which show that claimed ridership and cost projections for new transit capacity projects are often highly inaccurate. More specific threats to transit funding discussed later included: Pressure to reduce overall spending from both the Clinton Administration and Congress; Pending military budget increases, which will force domestic programs to fight over a shrinking pie; The effective drying-up of the federal Highway Trust Fund by 1997, which could reduce federal transportation outlays to states by 25% thereafter in the absence of new revenue sources. Upcoming federal transportation-related priorities and potential problems mentioned during the meeting were: The federal budget process is expected to move very rapidly this spring, incorporating the pressures described above. Momentum for a balanced budget amendment could spell deep cuts for a variety of programs (an example of a balanced federal budget presented recently in the NY Times cut transportation by 30%). Under ISTEA, the National Highway System (NHS) needs to be designated by this fall or else funding for it will be lost. At present, the legislation means construction of many new large highways (especially north-south NAFTA highways) and the upgrade to federal standards of existing routes designated as part of the NHS. Moving this legislation will be a big priority for new Republican committee chairs. Republican lawmakers are crafting a new set of Clean Air Act Amendments. An alternate route of attack for them may be to pass a moratorium on CAA sanctions or the need for clean air/transportation plan conformity. In discussion of the transportation reform movement's response or strategy to face these threats, the most productive result was a set of concrete steps to solidify information flow and coordinated action between Washington-based and state- and metropolitan-based actors. This publication was cited a number of times as a useful example that might be replicated at a number of levels. A question repeatedly raised was whether ISTEA's flexible funding and planning provisions could dovetail with Republican emphasis on local control, or whether it would instead run afoul of wise use and property rights rhetoric.
