WASHINGTON - Members of Florida's congressional delegation are threatening to oppose a $275-billion highway bill because it would reduce the state's return on gas taxes.
Florida has long been a "donor state," meaning it receives only 86 cents in highway money for every dollar it raises in gas taxes.
But the bill scheduled for a vote today in the House would reduce the state's return to about 76 cents, according to Floridians for Better Transportation, a business group that lobbies for more highway money. As a result, members of the state's House delegation have said they will oppose the bill unless an amendment is adopted to keep Florida's rate at its current level.
"It is not fair to Florida, so we're going to be opposing the bill," said Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Largo.
"The major issue is Florida getting its fair share," said Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa.
Davis supports the amendment to protect the current formula.
Doug Callaway, president of Floridians for Better Transportation, said Florida "ought to be negotiating up, not fighting to stay where we are."
Governors from 12 states, including Gov. Jeb Bush, oppose the bill because of the change.
The fate of the bill is uncertain because of an unusual convergence of competing forces. It is an election year and members are eager to tout the long list of projects in the bill which, for the Tampa Bay area, includes road improvements in the Tyrone area of St. Petersburg and on Park Boulevard in Pinellas Park, synchronized traffic signals in Pasco County and a connector between Interstate 4 and the Port of Tampa.
The Senate in February passed a $318-billion version that is more generous to Florida and other Sun Belt states.
But the Bush administration has threatened to veto either version, saying they are too costly in the face of mounting budget deficits. The highway trust fund, which gets money from the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal gas tax, is the source of road and transit funding.
Watchdog groups such as Taxpayers for Common Sense have criticized the House bill because members have earmarked many projects instead of allowing states to decide how to spend the money.
"The problem is that lawmakers have been blinded by their greed to bring home the bacon in a election year and have forgotten that our nation has a fiscal crisis," said Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
But supporters of the bill say it is critical to keep the nation moving.
"We are a nation stuck in traffic," said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the Transportation Committee, who unsuccessfully campaigned for a $375-billion bill.
- Information from the Associated Press was included in this report
