Planned House jobs bill may include $500B transportation bill (Philadelphia: unemployment rate, to move)

[BrianTH]

So in light of the rising unemployment rate despite the apparent turnaround in the general economy, the House of Representatives is planning to put together a jobs bill. Among the items reportedly under consideration for the bill would be a $500B transportation bill:

House Leaders Want Jobs Creation Bill Before Year-End - Economy * US * News * Story - CNBC.com (http://www.cnbc.com/id/34000651 - broken link)

That makes some sense because we are due for a new 6-year transportation bill anyway. I suspect that $500B figure means the bill in question would basically be the one proposed by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Oberstar, which was also $500B. See here:

http://transportation.house.gov/Media/file/Highways/HPP/Surface%20Transportation%20Blueprint.pdf (broken link)

I am bringing all this up because Oberstar's transportation bill could potentially be transformative for the Pittsburgh region. Among other things, the bill is designed to make it easier for larger municipalities to get federal funding for congestion-related projects, energy-saving projects, upgrading intermodal facilities, new public transit services, and pedestrian/bike projects. It would also dedicate $50B over six years specifically to high-speed rail, including with respect to the "Keystone Corridor" linking Pittsburgh to Philadelphia via Harrisburg. Finally, it would likely also include some Pittsburgh earmarks--for example, I believe funding for the switchback from the new Mon Wharf to the Smithfield Bridge and Eliza Furnace Trail has been proposed as an earmark.

So Pittsburgh would likely be a significant direct beneficiary of such funding. And if it played its cards right, local firms could also aggressively pursue business opportunities arising from related projects in other locations. However, originally the wind seemed to be blowing toward Congress simply extending the current transportation bill for 18 months, rather than taking up a new bill at this time. But the ongoing poor jobs situation seems to have changed the political context potentially in favor of pushing through this bill sooner rather than later.

Anyway, this is something to keep an eye on as it develops. Generally, the House wants to move pretty fast on a jobs bill, in part because it makes economic sense (there is always a lag between the passage of a bill and any economic effect, so the sooner the better to address the jobs situation), and in part because the 2010 election cycle will be beginning soon and the job situation is undoubtedly going to be a leading issue. Meanwhile, though, the Senate is still preoccupied with health care, and only 1/3 of them are up for re-election in 2010, and that 2010 class is disproportionately Republican (so those folks are not necessarily going to be pushing for a lot of great things to come out of this Congress in advance of the 2010 elections).

But hopefully the Senate will in fact be prodded into action on a jobs bill late this year or very early next year, by moral and economic necessity if nothing else. And my early read on the situation is that the transportation component could be among the least controversial aspects of the bill in the Senate, so even if the Senate balks at some of the House's ideas, I am hoping this part would make it through relatively intact.