The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and members of the Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition March 3 urged elected leaders to fund transportation at $318 billion, the amount the Senate reauthorized last month.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee offered a $375 billion proposal; the Bush administration proposed $256 billion. This week, CQ Today reported that House leaders had agreed to a $279.5 billion bill that shifts the cost of current ethanol fuel subsidies from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund.

However, March 3 letters to both Bush and the House said the Senate's transportation investment is vital to the nation.

"The $318 billion investment level would support over 2 million American job opportunities and help address the growing deterioration of the nation's highway, bridge and transit infrastructure facilities," the coalition's letter says. "With the Department of Transportation saying that 47,500 jobs are created for every $1 billion of federal highway and transit investment, investment levels below $318 billion would miss a critical opportunity to create badly needed jobs."

The letter to Bush also included Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's comment before passing that body's legislation. Frist, R-TN, said that at the federal level, "annual spending for ground transportation programs represents less than 2 percent of all federal spending. But this important spending serves as a catalyst for economic growth. I believe it is a small investment we can make in our economy. It is an essential investment in moving our economy forward while also making it safe for us to use our highways and our intercity rail systems."

The letters were signed by AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley and by executives of other associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the Laborers' International Union of North America; the American Road and Transportation Builders Association; the Associated General Contractors of America; the International Union of Operating Engineers; the American Public Transportation Association; the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association; and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

Also signing were officials of the National Ready-Mix Concrete Association; the National Asphalt and Pavement Association; the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America; the American Concrete and Pavement Association; the American Traffic Safety Services Association; the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers; the American Council of Engineering Companies; the American Society of Civil Engineers; the Small Business and Legislative Council; and the Associated Equipment Distributors.