The tenuous nature of federal highway funding is facing even greater uncertainty and may compound Pennsylvania’s existing transportation funding crisis.

According to the Council of State Governments, the incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees –- Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin and Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia -- recently announced they plan to wrap up all outstanding funding bills for the 2007 fiscal year into one measure.

The Obey-Byrd plan indicates "limited adjustments" may be made, but does not identify which programs’ funding could be modified. As such, the funding increases guaranteed by the 2005 surface transportation program reauthorization law, SAFETEA-LU, are in jeopardy. Pennsylvania was slated to receive an increase of nearly $166 million in the 2007 fiscal year.

Transportation advocates say the postponement of the 2007 bill is delaying highway and transit funding to the states, guaranteed under SAFETEA-LU, on needed infrastructure repairs and improvements. Funding for Amtrak and aviation are impacted as well.

Obey and Byrd also announced that there will be "no Congressional earmarks in the joint funding resolution" that they will pass. They indicated that they would place a moratorium on all earmarks until a reformed process is put in place.

The transportation funding bill is one of the nine measures Congress did not enact last year. The programs are currently funded through February 15, 2007, at their 2006 fiscal year levels. The following table, based on data from the American Road Builders Association, conveys the seriousness of the situation to northeastern states.

The FY 2007 Transportation Appropriations Bill (in thousands $$)
State	FY06*	FY 07**	Increase
Connecticut	376,938	430,324	53,386
Delaware	104,178	127,136	22,958
Maine	128,192	148,975	20,783
Massachusetts	466,004	535,479	69,475
New Hampshire	130,408	147,371	16,963
New Jersey	695,745	835,165	139,420
New York	1,292,715	1,461,574	168,859
Pennsylvania	1,287,067	1,452,651	165,584
Rhode Island	134,485	157,356	22,871
Vermont	115,679	136,452	20,773
National Subtotals	26,447,337	31,669,457	5,222,120
*2006 Data: Federal Highway Administration **2007 Data: U.S. House of Representatives Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill