Bush reversal: He plans to spend more on roads
By Dana Wilkie
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
February 8, 2005
WASHINGTON - In a surprising reversal from the past three years, President Bush increases transportation spending by nearly $30 billion in his new budget plan, a move that could mean an end to Washington's long delay in sending road money to states.
Though the president's 2006 budget would slash billions from other domestic programs - including deep cuts to the community development block grants so important to cities and counties - the extra road money was welcome news in places such as California, where highway expansions and other road projects have been in limbo as Congress and the president bickered about how much to spend.
"It is good news," said Jose Nuncio, senior transportation engineer for the San Diego Association of Governments, the county's transportation planning body. "There's been a lot of uncertainty for more than a year (about) what the (funding) was going to be."
Bush first tried to slash federal road spending in February 2002, when he proposed cutting $9 billion from the money Washington sends states to build and improve roads. Since then, the president and Congress have haggled over a six-year bill that would spell out spending for roads and transit systems. The last six-year spending plan expired in September 2003.
Because of the delay, at least $2.1 billion in projects across the nation that might ease traffic have come to a standstill. Without knowing how much money Washington would send in coming years, states could not plan road and transit projects, nor could they release money for those that might need construction dollars in as little as nine months.
Just before the election, Bush said he would refuse to spend more than $256 billion on roads in a six-year plan. The House and Senate - which wanted to spend $284 billion and $318 billion, respectively - would not budge from their figures, either.
In the budget he unveiled yesterday, Bush said he would spend $284 billion over six years - $28 billion more than he was willing to spend a few months ago. Because this is what the House proposes, it appears Bush and Congress may soon be able to reach a deal on a new six-year spending bill.
"Things were basically at a standstill . . . but this moves us closer than we've been in years to a transportation bill," said Keith Ashdown, executive director of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog.
In San Diego County, one of the most obvious consequences of Congress' delay and the state budget crisis could be seen at the border, where 55,000 vehicles a day use a single surface street - Otay Mesa Road - to travel between San Diego and Tijuana. Transportation authorities were ready to construct an extension of state Route 905, a six-lane freeway that would take the traffic off Otay Mesa Road. But in August, the California Transportation Commission voted not to send $103 million for the project until at least 2006.
This year, Bush wants to eliminate community development block grant programs, which thanks to Congress got $4.7 billion for 2005. The grants pay for projects such as graffiti removal and senior-center construction in distressed communities. Bush would meld these grants and 17 other programs into a single program that would get $3.7 billion, compared with $5.6 billion the separate programs got each year.
In the San Diego area, such grants have helped pay for the La Posada homeless shelter in Carlsbad, redeveloping blighted parts of downtown San Diego and a city of San Diego transportation program for the elderly.
"This new proposal is unreasonable," said Don Plusquellic, mayor of Akron, Ohio, and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Bush would once again try to eliminate federal reimbursement to states for the cost of jailing illegal immigrants who commit crimes. He would cut by 30 percent the federal program that provides equipment, training and staffing to fire departments and cut more than $1 billion from local law enforcement programs.
"This administration talks about homeland security but then guts funding for the very programs that help secure our homeland," said Joseph Estey, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
San Diego would play a role in a new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, which would oversee efforts to thwart a nuclear or radiological terrorist attack. A Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team based in the city would be one of the first three to get detection and response capabilities under the program, which would also be in New Orleans and Chesapeake, Va.
Bush would also trim federal farm subsidies, which would affect Californians who deal in rice, cotton and wheat. The proposal would make a 5 percent across-the-board cut in price supports for these crops and would reduce from $360,000 to $250,0000 the annual cap on subsidies that farmers can get.