By Ron Thaniel
January 12, 2009

As the 111th Congress convened last week, and the House of Representatives is expected to begin consideration of a massive Economy Recover Package this week, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, joined by a coalition of local government groups, continue to press Congress and President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition team to distribute highway economic recovery funds to local areas using the Surface Transportation Program (STP).

In a December 22, 2008 letter to Congress, the Conference of Mayors, joined by the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, National Association of Regional Councils, National Association of Development Organizations, American Planning Association, and the American Public Works Association, expressed support for the Surface Transportation Program (STP) as the mechanism to get funds to metropolitan planning organizations.

This letter was also forwarded to Obama’s transition team.

The letter said “(STP) ensures maximum flexibility to cities, counties, and to states to undertake bridge, bus and rail, and road projects by dividing funds between the states (37.5 percent) and local areas (62.5 percent), as current law has provided since 1991.” By following current law, the Conference’s MainStreet Economic Recovery plan does not take funding away from the states, as some industry and state transportation officials are suggesting.

In addition to the funds reserved for states, metro, and other local areas, STP allocation guarantees accountability given current requirements set forth in the federal law.

Highlighting his support for STP allocation, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar (MN) affirmed STP at The U.S. Conference of Mayors MainStreet Economic Recovery press conference held on December 8, 2008. “We have crafted the distribution according to the existing formula (STP) and we can write this more rigorously as required to ensure mayors and metropolitan areas get their fair share as do rural areas,” said Oberstar.

STP allocation ensures that local leaders, who own and operate most of the nation’s transportation assets and facilities, are at the table and can make decisions on projects in their areas. Without STP suballocation, cities/metro areas have no assurances that they will actually get any funds.

“Collectively, we represent the interests of almost every municipality or county government in the United States and strongly urge that current law commitments to local areas are preserved in distributing funds in the economic recovery package,” wrote the coalition.

To create Main Street jobs, support the metro economic engines, and ensure that traffic congested areas actually receive funding and critical deferred maintenance is addressed, additional city streets/metro roads stimulus funds must not be distributed based on the current state-based status-quo system.

Therefore, the Surface Transportation Program (STP) – which was created by Congress in 1991 – must be the mechanism for distributing city streets/metro roads economic recovery funding. This will provide maximum flexibility to cities, counties, and states in advancing bridge, bus and rail, and road projects in our nation’s metropolitan areas. This ensures that funds are allocated more evenly within each state so that mayors and other local leaders, who own and operate most of the transportation assets and facilities, are at the table to make decisions on “ready to go” projects. At the same time, this would create thousands of high-paying jobs, aid small businesses, and fuel economic activity on America’s main streets.

Using the STP program structure means that, in addition to the guaranteed share of STP funds reserved for the states, local officials and local areas within the states would receive a balance of the funds based on population, as federal law has provided since 1991. However, we are strongly opposed to efforts to eliminate the local area funds, as contained in the House stimulus bill. If unchanged, local officials through their Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) would not receive STP formula funds directly for “ready to go” projects.

The 111th Congress convened last week, and the House of Representatives is expected to begin consideration of a massive Economic Recovery Package this week. Therefore, it is critical that Capitol Hill be blanketed with calls for a MainStreet Economic Recovery package that distributes highway economic recovery funds to local areas using the Surface Transportation Program (STP).

This message is extremely important because there is now some chance the highway recovery funds will be suballocated under a different formula that reduces current commitments to cities and their metro areas.

Have your Representative(s) and Senators contact House and Senate Leadership, Appropriations, and Transportation Committees now and urge them to relay your support and their support for STP allocation to local areas and states – as current law has provided since 1991.

Discuss highway (city streets/metro roads infrastructure) needs. If this is the case, have your mayor explain that the city is unable to get the state DOT list of “ready to go” projects.

Cite specific examples of “ready to go” highway recovery projects from the Conference’s latest report on “Ready to Go” infrastructure projects. These projects can be found on the USCM website: usmayors.org.

Absent such immediate expression, there is a very good chance that the highway economic recovery funds will go straight to the states.