Oberstar Transportation Plan Included In House Jobs Bill

Press Release

A proposal by Congressman Jim Oberstar to create jobs by investing in transportation projects will make up almost half of a major jobs bill that will be on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Oberstar and Congressman David Obey joined House leaders at a news conference today to unveil the $75 billion jobs bill. In addition to putting people to work on road, bridge and transit projects, the bill will extend the deadline to file for subsidized COBRA health insurance benefits, as well as federally funded unemployment benefits. The current deadline for those programs is December 31st.

As chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Obey is a primary author of the jobs bill. Oberstar, who chairs the House Transportation and infrastructure Committee, worked with Obey on the transportation portion of the bill.

"We need this bill to put people to work right now," said Oberstar. "The states already know where they will put people to work on transportation projects. They have catalogued the roads and bridges that need to be repaired and once they receive this funding they can start putting people to work in a matter of weeks."

A recent survey of state departments of transportation by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) found over 9,500 transportation projects that could be started in the next 120 days if funding were available. In Minnesota, there are 116 such projects, worth a total of $513 million.

The transportation infrastructure investments in the jobs bill are:

Highways: $27.5 billion
Transit: $ 8.4 billion
Amtrak: $800 million
Airports: $500 million
Ports $100 million

Total $37.3 billion

In addition, the jobs bill includes $11 billion in other infrastructure investment, including Army Corps of Engineers projects.

The jobs bill is expected to pass in the House tomorrow. The Senate is not expected to take up the legislation until early next year.

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