WASHINGTON - House and Senate negotiators were still at odds Thursday over how billions of dollars in federal highway money should be divided among the states, prolonging talks on a long-delayed surface transportation bill.
With a compromise still beyond their grasp, the House and Senate were forced to enact the tenth extension of the old six-year highway law that expired in September 2003. The ninth extension, for only two days, expired Thursday.
The latest extension keeps money flowing for construction projects and federal highway officials' pay through Wednesday. Congress leaves at the end of next week for a five-week summer recess, and lawmakers are under strong pressure to get a bill to the president before they depart.
The House and Senate have agreed to spend $286.5-billion in the 2004-09 period for highway, mass transit and safety programs, but negotiators have been hung up over how to divide federal highway grants among the states.
Panel supports increases for Amtrak, veterans
WASHINGTON - A Senate panel Thursday rejected cuts to Amtrak and voted to significantly increase spending for highways, airport construction and community development grants.
The Appropriations Committee also voted to effectively raise by $2-billion President Bush's $843-billion limit for spending passed each year at Congress' discretion. That was done to take care of shortfalls in the budget for veterans' health care.
The panel approved three spending bills by unanimous 28-0 votes. Taken together, the bills fund the budgets for the departments of Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs, as well as the federal contribution to the District of Columbia.
The increases to Amtrak's subsidies would permit the troubled railroad to keep open routes that required huge subsidies, such as the Sunset Limited, the Florida-to-California route that loses more than $400 per passenger.
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta has said the Senate measure could be vetoed unless significant Amtrak reforms are enacted. Still, the panel added $50-million more for the railroad than it had approved just two days earlier, bringing its total federal subsidy to $1.45-billion.
The $81-billion measure funding veterans programs and construction projects at military bases contains $2-billion in emergency funds for medical services.
CAFTA would cost taxpayers, analysts say
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's free-trade agreement with Central America would cost taxpayers $50-million a year in loan forfeitures by sugar farmers, the Congressional Budget Office says.
An administration official said Thursday that the analysis was unrealistic and that there would be virtually no cost under sugar provisions in the deal.
The CBO released its estimate as House leaders planned for a vote next week on the Central American Free Trade Agreement. It would remove or lower trade barriers with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Overall, CAFTA would cost the United States about $4.4-billion over the next 10 years, primarily in lost tariffs, the CBO said.
