James Oberstar

After weeks of uncertainty and tension, the congressional impasse over long-term transportation funding is headed for resolution this week -- but the reprieve may be temporary.

Having entertained legislators' own ideas about how best to fund future transportation spending, the House Ways and Means committee turned to representatives from the administration and key interest groups today to hear their thoughts on the matter.

That's the implication of a Roll Call story today that states: "Momentum Builds for Transportation Bill."

We now have in our hands the 775-page Surface Transportation Authorization Act, which was released yesterday by James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House transportation committee. It is, in many ways, a remarkable bill -- a blueprint for how transportation planning and infrastructure construction might undergo a significant shift away from the mindsets that have dominated for the past half-century. There is a lot to like in the bill.

Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House transportation committee, made an interesting comment earlier this month in the Journal of Commerce:

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar's (D-MN) new federal bill, which he previewed Wednesday despite pushback from the Obama administration, is officially out.

Senior members of the House transportation committee today fired a warning shot at those pushing an 18-month extension of existing federal law, putting the Obama administration and key senators on notice that their $450 billion proposal would move forward this year.

Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), the House transportation committee chairman is set to brief reporters this afternoon on his $450 billion, six-year federal transportation bill -- which he plans to pursue regardless of the Obama administration's push for an 18-month extension of existing law.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is asking Congress to extend the existing federal transportation law for 18 months, averting the coming insolvency of the nation's highway trust fund while putting off broad-based transport reform for as long as the Bush administration did in the days surrounding the 2004 election.