Tax Extenders Act of 2009

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Mr. OBERSTAR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I strongly support this legislation extending Build America bonds and marketable distribution of highway funding. Build America bonds allow taxable bond access for State and local governments, create new types of investors, and attract them to infrastructure from pension funds and tax-exempt organizations.

This bill also provides $521 million in highway funding for highway and transit for more equitable distribution of Federal funding than was adopted under the Senate language in the HIRE Act.

The Senate revisions earmark funding under two major discretionary programs--Projects of National Regional Significance and the National Corridor Program--for a small select group of States. Under our distribution, we revise and make equitable the Senate revisions which skewed the highway formula. Under this provision in this bill, every State receives its fair share, apportionment share, of the funds available under these programs.

Thirty-seven States will receive more highway and transit funding through this modification, which will produce thousands of jobs across all these States, 18,000 jobs. In contrast to the gentleman who just recently was before me and said, oh, the stimulus hasn't produced jobs, every month our committee has held a hearing--I have chaired 19 hearings--every month to hold States accountable for the jobs produced under our stimulus program: 1,300,000 jobs, 34,000 lane miles of highway improved, 1,262 bridges repaired, replaced or rebuilt, 10,000 transit buses acquired by local transit agencies, $409 million in taxes paid by workers on job sites. That is a success. That is putting America back to work.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4213, the ``American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010''.

The American Jobs Act includes two major provisions to increase investment in our nation's infrastructure: (1) an extension of authority for Build America Bonds and (2) provisions to require a more equitable distribution of certain categories of Federal highway funding.

H.R. 4213 extends the Build America Bonds program for 2 years, through 2012. Build America Bonds were first authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to assist State and local governments in accessing credit markets in the wake of the financial crisis. Specifically, Build America Bonds allow State and local governments to access the taxable bond market, thereby reaching new types of investors such as pension funds and tax-exempt organizations.

By giving State and local governments a choice between accessing the tax-exempt municipal bond market and the taxable bond market to meet their financing needs, Build America Bonds allow State and local governments to select the bond market that provides the lowest financing cost, and the biggest bang for the buck.

Build America Bonds have proven to be an important tool for State and local governments to finance much-needed infrastructure improvements. As of April 30, 2010, State and local governments have used Build America Bonds to finance more than $96 billion in infrastructure projects, including improvements to schools, hospitals, water and sewer utilities, highways, transit, and airports. I strongly support the extension of this program.

H.R. 4213 also provides an additional $521 million of highway funding to allow for a more equitable distribution of certain categories of Federal highway funding than the distribution of highway funding provided under the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.

In March, the majority of the House voted to pass the HIRE Act based, in part, on an express commitment by Senate Majority Leader Reid that the Senate would pass subsequent jobs legislation to distribute highway funding more equitably--according to the House formula.

The highway formula provisions in this jobs bill implement Majority Leader Reid's commitment. I thank him, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Hoyer for their tireless work to resolve this issue and provide each State and highway program with a fair share of highway formula funding.

I would also like to thank the 55 Democratic first- and second-term Members, led by the gentleman from New York (Mr. McMahon) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Driehaus), and the Members of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, led by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Schauer), and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boccieri), for their instrumental work in spearheading efforts to marshal support for enactment of the highway formula provisions included in H.R. 4213. In addition, I thank the Members of the Illinois, California, and other affected State delegations for helping us reach the compromise that we bring to the Floor today.

The Senate revisions of the HIRE Act earmarked funding under two major highway discretionary programs--the Project of National and Regional Significance, PNRS, program and the National Corridor Infrastructure Improvement, National Corridor, program--for a small, select group of States. Under this distribution, four States received 58 percent of the funding and 21 States received nothing.

The treatment of these programs in the Senate revisions of the HIRE Act skewed the highway formula, significantly benefitting four States with a permanent windfall due to these earmarks.

The provisions in H.R. 4213 revise the distribution of PNRS and National Corridor program funding so that every State receives a fair share of the funds made available under these programs. Specifically, H.R. 4213 provides each State with a share of the PNRS and National Corridor funds equal to the greater of that which the State received under the HIRE Act or under H.R. 4213, the American Jobs Act.

Thirty-seven States receive more highway dollars based on the modification to the distribution of highway formula funding included in H.R. 4213. This new highway funding will produce thousands of jobs across these States--jobs that are critically important to the construction sector currently suffering from 21.8 percent unemployment.

Under the Recovery Act, we have clearly seen States demonstrate their ability to put highway and transit dollars to work quickly to create and sustain jobs--322,000 direct, on-project jobs in the first year of the Recovery Act and 49,000 direct jobs last month alone. In total, these highway and transit funds have created and sustained more than 1 million jobs over the past year.

In December, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials reported to our Committee that States currently have a backlog of 7,497 ready-to-go highway and bridge projects totaling $47.3 billion.

Given the States' extraordinary performance under the Recovery Act and the overwhelming highway investment needs, we can expect that the highway funding provided under H.R. 4213 will result in hundreds of projects under contract--with shovels in the ground--within 90 days.

Based upon Federal Highway Administration estimates, the $521 million of additional funding provided under H.R. 4213 will create more than 18,000 family-wage jobs.

The HIRE Act also distributed ``additional'' formula funding (provided in lieu of additional Congressionally-directed projects) among only six of 13 current State highway formula programs.

In doing so, it effectively designated seven programs--the Appalachian Development Highway System, Rail-Highway Grade Crossing, Equity Bonus, Recreational Trails, Safe Routes to School, Coordinated Border Infrastructure, and Metropolitan Planning programs--as ``second tier'' programs, providing them less funding in FY 2010 and FY 2011 and weakening their standing during the ongoing authorization process.

The highway provisions in H.R. 4213 appropriately recognize the standing of all of the current highway formula programs: distributing ``additional'' formula funding through all current State highway formula programs, rather than just six. This modification is critically important to the Appalachian Development Highway System, Metropolitan Planning, and Safe Routes to School programs.

Today narks the third time that the House will vote on language to revise the HIRE Act's highway funding distribution, which this chamber has twice passed language to amend. With the rock-solid commitment of the House Democratic Leadership and Senate Majority Leader Reid, I look forward to enacting the highway formula modifications included in H.R. 4213 and providing every State with a fair share of the funds distributed under these programs as they begin to move forward with their summer highway construction seasons.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4213, the ``American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010''.

Attached is a state-by-state highway funding table outlining the additional funding provided by H.R. 4213.

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