Lawmaker: No more highway bill extensions after this one

The recent extension of the bill to fund highways and public transportation through September will be the last short-term fix, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee told county executives Tuesday in Washington.
 
Speaking at the National Association of Counties annual legislative conference, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said that his committee would vote out a long-term version of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
 
"We stabilized the trust fund through Sept. 30th when we passed the seventh extension, but I'm here to tell you that there won't be an eighth," Mica said. "That's no way to conduct business relating to what you all need to know - what the federal government is going to be doing and what the federal government is going to be funding."

Mica supports a new long-term highway bill and not simply extensions of legislation.
 
Mica said that passing a longer term SAFETEA-LU measure could help the sagging national economy.
 
"Nothing is going to put people to work like a major transportation bill for this country," he said.
 
He called President Obama's decision to back an 18-month extension of the highway bill instead of a six-year proposal supported by Mica and then-Democratic House Transportation Chairman James Oberstar "a major mistake."
 
Mica similarly lamented delays in the Federal Aviation Administration authorizing bill, which was criticized Tuesday by union groups because it contains provisions that would make it harder for aviation and railroad workers to collectively organize. Mica did not address that criticism in his remarks to NACo, but said he hoped the final FAA bill would be approved within the next 50 to 60 days.
 
"In 2003, I wrote the FAA reauthorization bill, and we did it for four years," Mica said. "Unfortunately we did not pass another one. The way things work around here, what we did was we passed 17 extensions."
 
However, the final long-term FAA bill is "well on its way to completion" having already cleared the Senate, Mica said.