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Anthrax scare pushes back House action on stimulus plan
Budget/Infrastructure, Budget, Infrastructure
Daily
10/22/2001
H.R. 3090: The economic stimulus package.
Floor action: Expected this week in the House.
While the anthrax scare on Capitol Hill last week postponed floor action on the
House's economic stimulus package, further details did come to light that show
what it will take for lawmakers to include critical infrastructure spending in
the upcoming financial boost. So far, House GOP leaders and the White House have
balked at increased spending, but Democrats have insisted they have strict
criteria that will funnel out the good from the bad in any public works
proposals.
"Most infrastructure has a longer life," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.),
chairman of the Budget Committee, indicating that many of the ideas the Senate
has received will not likely fit into the context of the stimulus package. For a
project to have a chance, he said it ideally would have already gone through
both the design and engineering phases. Conrad also said any federal funds must
be spent within six months and the project should "sunset" within a year.
Well-known fiscal conservative, Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), maintained his
position that he does not think infrastructure spending fits well in an economic
stimulus package. While he said he always has been a proponent of building
highways, Gramm dispelled the argument made by infrastructure advocates that
funding can immediately stimulate the economy. Gramm, ranking member of the
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said he has not seen
infrastructure spending help the country out of a recession since World War II.
"Let [infrastructure] stand on its own feet," he said.
A number of lawmakers, including Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Richard Durbin
(D-Ill.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Bob Smith (R-N.H.) all said serious
analysis should be done before specific spending is authorized. For example,
Graham said national security that reduces the risk of further terrorist attacks
is a primary consideration, adding that while long-term measures would be
beneficial, he is concerned that such proposals would extend beyond the scope
Congress intends to address. Durbin pointed out that the new Office of Homeland
Defense, and its director Tom Ridge, should be called on for its input.
Bingaman, chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he had
doubts that an economic stimulus package should include tens of billions of
dollars for infrastructure security as some lawmakers, most notably
Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), have suggested.
Conrad said the Senate is on track to produce its stimulus proposal by the end
of the month, though that date now appears to be in question because of the
anthrax scare. A hearing scheduled last week on the stimulus package in the
Senate Budget Committee was postponed and so far has not been rescheduled.
Conrad also said lawmakers in various committees were asked earlier this month
to make a list of short-term spending possibilities.
So far, the biggest push for infrastructure spending in the Senate has come from
Byrd and Majority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Initially, Reid had proposed roughly
$30 billion to $45 billion in additional infrastructure spending, but that
figure is likely to come down to about $15 billion, according to a Democratic
aide. Byrd has said he would favor a stimulus package with about $30 billion to
$35 billion in additional discretionary spending, a number he was reportedly
going to provide Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's (D-S.D.) office last week.
Byrd's office could not be reached for comment.
Frustrated with the tax-cut heavy stimulus product that passed Oct. 12 from the
House Ways and Means and Committee, Democrats in the lower chamber were also
working on an infrastructure spending proposal in separate fashion from their
economic stimulus alternative. Both proposals might have been introduced last
week had the House not shut down. Details are unclear on what the "second stage"
bill will focus on with regard to infrastructure spending, but a memo leaked
from the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month showed that
everything from nuclear warhead facilities to water treatment plants were being
considered. House Democratic Vice Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Democrats
from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee were working on the
proposal as of last week, a House Democratic leadership aide said.
In the bigger picture, the House's nearly $100 billion economic plan has drawn
criticism from both the Senate and Bush administration. The White House said it
wants to limit the boost to $75 billion while the upper chamber has said
across-the-board tax cuts are not enough to address its concerns.
"They took at least one giant step backward in the House in the last few days,"
said Daschle, adding that high-level talks would take place in the coming days
with Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
Industry requests
In light of the criteria spelled out by lawmakers, a number of interest groups
were quick to push their own stimulus proposals as right for the economy while
also boosting national security. The Water Infrastructure Network asked Congress
recently for about $5 billion. According to Adam Krantz, spokesman for the
Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, such funds would go toward
replacing aging water and wastewater pipes across the country, an effort that he
calculated would create more than 200,000 new jobs. WIN earlier this year
presented an analysis that said there will be a $23 billion gap each year for
the next 20 years to pay for aging water and wastewater infrastructure. Drifting
out of Conrad's criteria of a 12-month sunset for any proposal to be accepted,
Krantz said water infrastructure would use the economic stimulus package as its
"initial vehicle."
The National Rural Water Association also called on Congress for funding
assistance via the stimulus package. NRWA said it would make sense to have the
Agriculture Department serve as the primary recipient of any water
infrastructure stimulus spending which was aimed solely at rural and small
communities. Mike Keegan, an NRWA analyst, said USDA is suited for the job
because it has a nearly $3 billion backlog of potential water projects waiting
for FY '02 funding. Because of that list, he said USDA would be able to get the
funds to projects in a more timely manner than the Environmental Protection
Agency. Told of the NRWA proposal, Amy Maron of the Sierra Club said green
groups are likely to oppose any plan that would give USDA additional authority
with environment and infrastructure improvements.
On the highway front, the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials recently told Congress it found a $14.2 billion price
tag for about 2,200 projects that would be capable of beginning in the next 30
to 90 days. Janet Oakley, director of policy and government relations at AASHTO,
said the projects are in the 47 states which responded to the organization's
recent survey. She said the projects would go beyond what any state is currently
planning to do.
Asked if the states or local governments should support such efforts, Oakley
said the federal government is in a better position right now to get the ball
rolling, noting that some state legislatures are not in session right now and
may not come back for as long as a year. As Congress has done previously, Oakley
said it should consider a temporary waiver in state or local government matching
funds in lieu of them being paid back over the next two years.
Amy Coggin, spokeswoman for the American Public Transportation Association, said
her organization has found about $10 billion to $12 billion worth of public
transit projects and another $5 billion in security needs that would go beyond
current measures. Coggin, however, said the timeframe spelled out by Conrad was
not something her organization had yet studied.
-- Darren Samuelsohn