By Alec MacGillis - Washington Post Staff Writer - Friday, June 26, 2009

After rejecting criticism that it is taking on too much, the Obama
administration has identified one area where ambitious reforms will have to
wait: overhauling the nation's aging, congested and carbon-emitting
transportation system.

The current six-year, $286 billion transportation spending plan expires in
October, and House members have worked for months to produce a 775-page, $500
billion bill that would create a new fund for road repairs, increase funding for
rail and public transit and include reforms meant to wean the country from
fossil fuels.

But it became clear at a contentious Senate hearing yesterday that the
half-trillion-dollar question is how to pay for the bill. The 18.4-cent federal
gas tax has not been raised since 1993, and revenue from it falls increasingly
short every year because of inflation and the shift to more fuel-efficient cars.

Some in Congress, state governments and even in the freight-trucking industry
believe the time has come to consider a greatly expanded revenue source, whether
a higher gas tax or more tolls, or a shift to a "vehicle miles traveled" fee,
which drivers would pay based on how much they drive.

The White House and some of its Senate allies are letting it be known, though,
that this is not a discussion they want to have now, in the middle of a
recession and as Washington is consumed with battles over health care and
energy. Also, polls show that Americans are growing anxious about government
spending.

Earlier this year, when they were criticized for not allocating enough stimulus
dollars for transportation, administration officials said their transformative
plans would come in the six-year renewal bill this fall.

But now the administration is telling Congress that it wants to extend the
current spending plan by 18 months -- past the 2010 elections. That will require
Congress to provide a $20 billion patch to continue funding at current levels,
because the Highway Trust Fund, supported by the gas tax, is expected to run dry
next month. The administration hopes it can attach some initial policy reforms
that would benefit big metropolitan areas and public transit. But the broader
transformation should wait, officials say.

"President Obama does have a vision for transportation. It's not something he's
going to ignore or turn a blind eye to at all," Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood told skeptical senators yesterday. "The timing is where we part company."

Despite the White House's call for delay, House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) is pressing ahead
with his bill. He and his House allies argue that states and cities need a new
long-term bill to be able to plan capital projects, and that the Washington
Metro crash offered further proof that a badly frayed infrastructure needs
serious attention now.

Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) is proposing that if the White House and the
Senate will not consider a higher gas tax, then the bill could be paid for with
a new tax on oil speculators.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) said: "President Obama said to us during the
campaign that we must have the fierce urgency of now. And that's what Mr.
Oberstar has done."

The debate flared yesterday at a hearing before the Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee. Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who is focused on
passing a climate bill, said she favors the 18-month patch, and most members
present agreed. But Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) protested, saying that a
delay would duck the hard questions and that Americans would be willing to pay
higher gas taxes for better transportation and new construction jobs.

"The way to get the job done is to pass a bill now. Urgent. Get it done," he
said. "What the country needs to know is that in the next five-year period,
we're going to make a comprehensive commitment to infrastructure, including
high-speed rail, highways and the rest of it. . . . Can you imagine what that
would mean in terms of our economy and it giving people confidence in where
we're going?"

Boxer agreed but said a gas tax increase now is not feasible. "I would tell you
if you go out to the people of America and say that's the solution, I don't
think they will buy it," she said. "They're struggling right now."

Meanwhile, the Highway Trust Fund needs an additional $6 billion to get through
the summer. Administration officials say they are looking for ways to pay for a
patch other than general revenues, while Republicans are arguing to use stimulus
money. Senators want the patch passed without any policy reforms, but public
transit advocates say the reforms cannot wait.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer said it would be "devastating"
to states if the fund ran out, forcing the shutdown of road projects for which
they expected reimbursement. His Oklahoma counterpart, Gary Ridley, agreed, but
added that however the patch is handled, federal lawmakers and administration
officials need to confront the long-term problem of a gas tax that no longer
covers the country's needs.

"They have to come up with a new system," he said. "None of [the options] will
be popular. But it's absolutely necessary."