Jeff Bingaman: “The bottom line result in this conference report is that 28 States are losing money for general road repair…”

“The bottom line result in this conference report is that 28 States are losing money for general road repair, construction, maintenance, and service in a year in which the overall obligation ceiling for these expenditures is rising to its highest level in history. This conference report increases overall highway spending authority to $18 billion, a full $450 million higher than the current year's level. Thus, in a year in which we are pumping half a billion dollars into this program, 28 States are getting hit with reductions, some of which are very serious. In contrast, there are some big winners because of this accounting error. Texas is receiving a $183 million increase, which is about 19 percent greater than last year.”