(E-mailed federal legislation update from National League of Cities’ Leslie Wollack on Jan. 16, 2009)

 

From: fedleg-owner@sml.nlc.org [mailto:fedleg-owner@sml.nlc.org] On Behalf Of Leslie Wollack
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 4:49 PM
To: fedleg@sml.nlc.org
Subject: Fine print on the transportation portion of the stimulus package

We are still working though the details of the256 page economic recovery bill (minus the tax portion which has not been released yet) but wanted to provide some further detail on the transportation provisions of HR 1.   This package was prepared based on discussions among the President-elect’s transition team, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Speaker, so we expect that there will be fine tuning along the way but the basics will remain through debate in the House.  Hearings will take place beginning next week and hopefully will be to the House floor by January 28. 

Dollars include: 

$30 Billion for highway and bridge construction

$9 Billion for transit including:

There will be a direct suballocation to metropolitan areas according to the current formula, although the language still is not very clear.  We heard from House leadership and the House Appropriations Committee that special attention was paid to providing enough funding for real economic stimulus while still providing a realistic amount of funds that can be spent within  three years. 

There are lots of concerns being raised in the last 24 hours over the amount of funding for highway/transit – too much/too little; does it provide for good projects and exactly how much actually comes to local government once all the set asides contained in the current formula are included.   

This is a preview for the upcoming authorization debate and clearly there are lots of issues raised during this brief stimulus effort that NLC will need to discuss.

Here is the exact language of the highway/bridge section of the bill.

Provided further, That 45 percent of the funds distributed to a State under this heading shall be suballocated within the State in the manner and for the purposes described in section 133(d) of title 23, United States Code, (without regard to the comparison to fiscal  year 2005 in paragraph (2)): Provided further, That in selecting projects to be funded, recipients shall give priority to projects that can award contracts within 120 days of enactment of this Act, are included in an approved Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and/or Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), are projected for completion within a three year time frame, and are located in economically distressed areas as defined by section 301 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3161): Provided further, That funds made available under this heading shall be administered as if apportioned under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, except for funds made available for Indian reservation roads and park roads and parkways which shall be administered in accordance with chapter 2 of title 23, United States Code: Provided further, That the Federal share payable on account of any project or activity carried out with funds made available under this heading shall, at the option of the recipient, be up to 100 percent of the total cost thereof:

The bill talks a lot about accountability and transparency and includes this language: 

• How funds are spent, all announcements of contract and grant competitions and awards, and formula grant allocations must be posted on a special website created by the President. Program managers will also be listed so the public knows who to hold accountable.

• Public notification of funding must include a description of the investment funded, the purpose, the total cost and why the activity should be funded with recovery dollars. Governors, mayors or others making funding decisions must personally certify that the investment has been fully vetted and is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. This will also be placed on the recovery website.

• A Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board will be created to review management of recovery dollars and provide early warning of problems. The seven member board includes Inspectors General and Deputy Cabinet secretaries.

• The Government Accountability Office and the Inspectors General are provided additional funding and access for special review of recovery funding.

• Federal and state whistleblowers who report fraud and abuse are protected.

• There are no earmarks in this package.

 We’ll keep you posted!

Leslie

Leslie Wollack
Principal Legislative Counsel
National League of Cities
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004-1763
Voice:  202.626.3029
FAX:    202.626.3043