The U.S. House and Senate have appointed their members to the conference committee that will hammer out details of the 6-year transportation funding authorization Congress has been developing for the past year.

From this region, House transportation committee appointees are Robert Menendez, from NJ’s Hudson County, and NYC’s Jerrold Nadler. From the House budget and ways and means committees, respectively, CT’s Chris Shays and Manhattan’s Charles Rangel will also take part in the conference. Sherwood Boehlert of upstate New York is also included. Joseph Lieberman is the region’s only Senator named to the conference.

Nadler and Menendez’ presence on the committee may bode well for the cross-harbor rail tunnel project, which is currently the subject of public hearings around the region. Neither House nor Senate bill contained any clear funding for the project, though some programs in the House bill referring to freight corridors and nationally significant undertakings (see MTR #454) could be used for such a project. Nadler may be able to secure some of these funds and explicitly tie them to the project through the committee process. Menendez, who represents Jersey City, the tunnel’s proposed western end, has been more supportive of the project than many Hudson County officials. For instance, recently-deceased Jersey City mayor Glen Cunningham had issued extreme statements against the project.

The biggest overall issue will of course be the funding level, since the Senate passed a $318 billion measure, $43 billion more than the House. President Bush has asked Congress to stick to his $256 billion proposal. The House bill also contains a measure that would allow lawmakers to resume major transportation funding deliberations again in two years.

If the conferees approach funding levels by splitting the Senate-House difference, a joint measure could be close to $300 billion, well above the Bush target. But both houses of Congress passed their bills by veto-proof margins.