GOP wary of own transportation bill

WASHINGTON -- A bill that Republican leaders were promoting as the centerpiece of their job-creation agenda has instead turned into one of their biggest headaches, thanks largely to tea party conservatives who want to get the federal government out of transportation programs and hand them over to the states.

The House and Senate are heading toward a showdown next week that could result in a cutoff of federal highway and transit aid to states just as the spring construction season starts. The government's authority to spend money from the trust fund that pays for transportation programs, as well as its power to levy the federal gasoline and diesel taxes that feed the fund, expire March 31. Democrats estimate as many as 1.8 million jobs supported by those programs are at risk.

Neither side wants a shutdown, but House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been unable to recruit enough Republicans to pass the GOP's overhaul of federal highway programs. The biggest group of holdouts are conservatives who want highway programs to be paid for entirely by federal gas and diesel taxes even though that might mean a nearly 40 percent cut in spending because that revenue has declined.

Boehner's fallback plan is to pass a 90-day extension of current programs to give the House more time to line up votes for a comprehensive bill. But Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he's "not inclined" to go along with an extension. He urged the House to instead take up a $109 billion bill the Senate passed last week by a bipartisan 74-22 vote.

"It's a good bill," Reid said. "But over in a big, dark hole we now refer to as the tea-party-dominated House of Representatives . . . they destroyed their own bill, and now they won't agree to take up our bill."

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), said he's undecided about the five-year, $260 billion GOP bill because he's concerned that it isn't paid for entirely with user fees such as fuel taxes and because he doesn't like the way it divvies up highway aid among states. "I think that roads mean jobs. But it's essential that we produce a bill that is both fair and fiscally responsible."