Infrastructure

In his weekly address, President Obama tells Congress to skip the “political posturing in Washington.”

President Obama put more meat on the bones of his jobs agenda Wednesday, outlining a plan to quickly permit major infrastructure projects pending approval at several federal agencies.

He signed a presidential memorandum instructing federal agencies to each identify three major infrastructure projects that will create jobs and can be greenlighted by the Obama administration within 18 months.

“Creating jobs is my highest priority as president, and investing in our nation’s infrastructure can help create those jobs and grow our economy,” Obama said in a news release.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The Transportation Security Administration said a man tried to board an airplane in Brazil with snakes and tortoises in his pants.

The National Transportation Safety Board blamed a utility company and lax regulators for a California pipeline explosion.

The terminal at Miami International Airport was evacuated because of a suspicious package.

Commuter rail service in New York has resumed post-Irene.

Critics claim the Republican presidential candidate supports another “Bridge to Nowhere.”

Voters in Michigan and other states should pressure Congress to pass a federal highway bill, President Obama said Thursday.

Monday begins the first full week of haggling over how much the federal government should spend on transportation.

A leading Senate Democrat said Wednesday that the chamber will likely move forward with a two-year measure funding roads and public transportation – not a six-year bill, as originally planned.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of Environment and Public Works Committee, also told reporters that lawmakers would have to fill a roughly $12 billion shortfall for those two years, and that her committee would mark up the $109 billion legislation in the next few weeks.

“A great nation has to invest in its people, and in its resources, and its future,” said Boxer, who also signaled that she would have preferred a six-year measure. “And if we have bridges that fall down, we’re lost.”

The California Democrat added that one potential way to close the $12 billion gap would be to use funds saved from the winding down of U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. She also said the $109 billion included spending increases only to account for inflation.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is hopeful that his bill to create a National Infrastructure Bank will move through the Senate this year.

The bill could be the best shot for those seeking to boost transportation, energy and water infrastructure investment in a Congress focused on “rapacious” spending cuts, Kerry said.

The Kerry bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would create an independent, nonprofit bank that would leverage private investment into infrastructure projects. The bill was introduced in March.

Kerry told The Hill after a Capitol Hill event on the topic that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is supportive of the legislation, though he has some questions. Kerry said he is working through those issues with Baucus en route to a Finance markup of the bill.

A jump in freight transported by trucks shows the need for increased spending on infrastructure, the American Trucking Association argues.

This is the second time the Congressional Budget Office has presented the idea as an option for generating revenue.