Bart Stupak: “I have decided to vote in support for H.R. 3550 or the TEA-LU highway/transit reauthorization bill, but with…”

“I have decided to vote in support for H.R. 3550 or the TEA-LU highway/transit reauthorization bill, but with reservations and with the hope that it will be addressed during the House-Senate conference. I am pleased that this highway and transit reauthorization contains my requests on the may critically needed transportation projects for the First District. However, this $275 billion bill still shortchanges Michigan in overall funding. It fails to include enough funding to ensure my state receives its fair share of highway funding. Under the current highway authorization law, TEA-21, Michigan is a 'donor' state. That means for every dollar Michigan taxpayers pay into the federal highway/transit fund--the state gets back only 90.5 cents in federal highway funding. The new reauthorization bill, TEA-LU, does not narrow this gap. Instead, it actually makes it worse by making the pot of money where this formula applies even smaller. The $318 billion Senate bill, however, would gradually increase Michigan's rate of return on the dollar up to 95 cents by the end of FY 2009. That would be a vast improvement from the House version and I urge the joint House-Senate conference committee to accept the Senate version. Congress needs to address this inequity to ensure Michigan receives a more equitable share of funding so it can better address and upgrade its highway and transit system as well as create much needed jobs in Michigan.”