Infrastructure

House Republicans teed up an election-year battle over jobs Tuesday, unveiling a $260 billion transportation bill designed to put Democrats on the defensive.

The package from House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) would spend $260 billion over five years on road and transit projects — funding that Democrats and President Obama have long championed as stimulus for the economy.

But the GOP bill would pay for some of the transportation work with an expansion of oil and gas drilling, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), a nonstarter for many Democrats and their supporters in the environmental movement.

Sensing an advantage, Mica on Tuesday warned Democrats the bill is the only vehicle for highway funding that Republicans would support. 

"This is the only piece of legislation" that can pass the House, Mica said at a press conference in front of the Capitol.

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The speaker said legislation advancing the pipeline would be part of a major infrastructure and energy bill.

The bills would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, a nonstarter for the White House and most Democrats.

The Chamber plans to spend roughly half a million dollars on ads calling for passage of a highway bill.

A recently approved bill to improve the safety of pipelines that are used to transport natural gasoline shows what can happen when lawmakers “put infrastructure before politics,” the sponsor of the measure argued Thursday.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, wrote in an op-ed published Thursday in the Washington Times that the passage of the pipeline bill was a “major accomplishment” that brought “Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen our economy and create jobs,” which Shuster wrote was a rare occurrence.

“Largely overshadowed by the political sniping over taxes and the hustle of the holiday season, Congress unanimously approved and President Obama signed into law the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011 — a landmark piece of legislation that will improve an important part of America’s infrastructure and spur job creation,” he wrote.

Senate Democrats expect to pass a surface transportation bill soon after they return to Washington next month.

A bipartisan group of House members says it is "tired of waiting" on House leadership and President Obama and will be pushing forward its own six-year transportation bill in hopes of jump-starting the economy.

Rep. John Carney (D-Del.) and Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) submitted a letter on behalf of 111 House members — composed of 62 Democrats and 49 Republicans — to Obama urging him to support a transportation reauthorization package. The pair appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Wednesday to advocate for their plan.

"We're not going to wait any longer, we're not going to wait for the Speaker, we're not going to wait for the president," Schock said, arguing that the "rank and file" was "tired of waiting" on infrastructure projects.

Boehner's legislation would pay for infrastructure improvements with revenue from new drilling. 

A Republican proposal to funnel energy revenues into infrastructure calls for a massive expansion of oil-and-gas leasing.

The Speaker’s plan could help Republicans rebut Democratic claims they are ignoring crumbling roads and bridges.