GOP Could Raid Federal Transportation Projects

WASHINGTON--The first few days of the 112th Congress will be mostly pomp and pageantry, with no plans to debate any meaty legislation.

But Rep. Joe Courtney says one GOP proposal on the docket--a little-noticed change to House rules that's set for a vote on Wednesday--could have more serious implications than many hotly-debated bills.

At issue are a few lines in a 33-page House GOP rules package, which Courtney and other critics say could jeopardize federal transportation funding for critical highway, bridge and transit projects in Connecticut and elsewhere.

The Republican measure would undo a provision, in place since 1998, that shields the Highway Trust Fund from being raided for other funding priorities.

GOP leaders say they have no intention of dipping into that pot--and it's not exactly flush anyway. The new provision, they argue, simply ensures there are no "sacred cows" when it comes to spending cuts.

Under previous House rules, any bill that undermined approved, multi-year federal highway projects was automatically considered out of order. Congress has traditionally mapped out federal highway and transit spending over a six-year period, so any proposal that sought to alter current or future funding levels set out in those six-year laws was a non-starter.

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