Obama budget tells Congress to spend more on transportation bills

As Congress is set to consider transportation bills that spend about $50 billion per year, President Obama is calling on lawmakers to appropriate nearly $80 billion annually on road and transit projects.

The House is expected to bring to the floor this week a bill that spends $260 billion on transportation over the next five years, and the Senate will likely vote this week on its two-year, $109 billion measure.

But in a $3.8 trillion budget released Monday, Obama calls for a transportation bill that spends $476 billion over the next six years.

The measure would "create thousands of new jobs and modernize a critical foundation of our economic growth," the White House said in fact sheet about the president's budget proposal. 

Obama is also renewing his proposal for spending $50 billion of the transportation bill immediately that marked his unsuccessful push for an "American Jobs Act" last fall.

The budget also calls again for an increase for a per-takeoff fee on flights that could run as high as $100 and an increase in the security taxes airline passengers pay each way on trips to $7.50. The White House said the proposal, which has been strongly opposed by the aviation industry, would generate between $7.4 billion and $25.5 billion over the next 10 years.

Obama said in a speech in Northern Virginia Monday that his recommendations would help keep the recovery of the national economy "on track."

But his transportation proposals were immediately met with skepticism from Congress, where lawmakers have already scoffed at the president's recommendations for transportation spending and aviation tax proposals.

"Upon preliminary review of his FY13 budget request I have great concerns this year’s budget looks all too familiar," Rep. Robert Aderhold (R-Ala.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said Monday in a statement.

"Once again, the President’s request grossly underfunds vital security priorities like maritime and border security and is riddled with the same budget gimmicks as last year, including $317 million in increased airline ticket taxes that stand no chance of passing in either chamber,”  he continued.

---