Road Gang Mobilizes in Washington
Pennsylvania Congressman Bud Shuster and a group of urban Republican representatives known as the Road Gang fought a hard behind-the-scenes battle to have federal transportation trust funds taken "off-budget" during negotiations over the recent House budget resolution. Removing the trust funds -- supported by federal gas and airline ticket taxes -- from the general federal budget would give Shuster's Transportation Committee far more autonomy over the expenditure of these revenues by exempting them from budget balancing calculations. Many Washington-based transportation monitors oppose the off-budget proposal because it would lock revenues in for highway spending and create additional pressures for transit and other projects funded from the general budget. The Washington Post reported last week that members of Shuster's private Alliance for Truth in Transportation Budgeting, formed to aid the off-budget campaign, had amassed a war chest by assessing its 80 members $10,000 each to fund a lobbying team led by Shuster's former chief of staff. The transportation industry contributed $337,000 to the Republican Party in the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. While Shuster's and the Alliance's efforts were opposed by the House Budget Committee leadership, their campaign had enough impact to involve House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who declared himself a "pro-infrastructure Republican" and announced the formation of a Speaker's Task Force on Transportation that would work to "develop a consensus" on the trust fund issue. How Gingrich can mollify both Shuster and G.O.P. budget leaders remains to be seen.
