Oberstar, DeFazio: AP Analysis is Off Base Data show Recovery Act working in transportation sector
January 11, 2010
By Jim Berard 202-226-5064
The Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit take exception with an Associated Press analysis on the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on unemployment.
Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.) and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (Ore.) issued the following statement Monday in rebuttal to the AP report released earlier in the day. In addition, the Committee produced its latest data on investment of Recovery Act transportation funds by the states, territories, the District of Columbia, and local governments and transit agencies.
Statement of Rep. James L. Oberstar, Chairman Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, Chairman Subcommittee on Highways and Transit The AP analysis of the impact of road projects on unemployment flies in the face of hard data collected monthly by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. According to submissions that we received from states, metropolitan planning organizations, and public transit agencies, 8,587 highway and transit projects are under construction in all 50 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, totaling $19.7 billion, as of November 30, 2009. These projects have created or sustained more than 250,000 direct, on-project jobs, with payroll expenditures of $1.3 billion.
Furthermore, these statistics do not include indirect and induced jobs in the supply chain, such as positions that produce construction materials or manufacture equipment. The impact of these jobs is not limited to a single state or local community. For example, the Virginia Railway Express in Northern Virginia used Recovery Act funds to purchase 15 locomotives manufactured in Boise, Idaho. VRE will begin receiving the new locomotives later this summer. While this local decision creates jobs in Virginia, the impact is also felt in Idaho and throughout the country¹s vast supply chain.
When you include these indirect and induced jobs, the Committee calculates that total employment from transportation investments under the Recovery Act reaches over 760,000.
Finally, the AP article criticizes these investments for not making a big enough dent in our economic troubles. Transportation investments make up only six percent of the overall Recovery package, and are not enough by themselves to overcome the high unemployment in the private sector. However, to dismiss them as having no effect at all is like saying it is a waste of time to feed a homeless family because that one act does not cure poverty.
The highway and transit investments in the Recovery Act have created hundreds of thousands of jobs and returned a sense of worth and hope to hundreds of thousands of American families. AP should spend less time looking at unrelated numbers, and more time looking at the effect this legislation is having on real people.
New Highway, Transit, and Clean Water Data Of the $34.3 billion provided for highway and transit formula programs under the Recovery Act, $24.8 billion, or 72 percent, has been put out to bid on 11,304 projects, as of November 30, 2009. Within this total, 9,542 projects (totaling $21.4 billion) are under contract (62 percent). Across the nation, work has begun on 8,587 projects totaling $19.7 billion ¬ that is 57 percent of the total available highway and transit formula funds.
These highway and transit projects have created or sustained more than 250,000 direct, on-project jobs. Total employment from these projects, which includes direct, indirect, and induced jobs, reaches over 760,000.
The figures also show that, despite a slow start, states are moving on their clean water investments under the Recovery Act. The latest totals indicate that projects representing 89 percent of the national total under the Act are now out to bid, and projects representing 49 percent of the total are under contract or under construction.
When all programs are counted, federal, state, and local agencies administering programs within the Committee¹s jurisdiction under the Recovery Act have announced 15,598 transportation and other infrastructure projects totaling $46 billion. This represents 72 percent of the $64.1 billion total fund available.
For the latest Recovery Act data from the T&I Committee, go to:
transportation.house.gov/singlepages/singlepages.aspx.
By Jim Berard 202-226-5064
The Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit take exception with an Associated Press analysis on the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on unemployment.
Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.) and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (Ore.) issued the following statement Monday in rebuttal to the AP report released earlier in the day. In addition, the Committee produced its latest data on investment of Recovery Act transportation funds by the states, territories, the District of Columbia, and local governments and transit agencies.
Statement of Rep. James L. Oberstar, Chairman Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, Chairman Subcommittee on Highways and Transit The AP analysis of the impact of road projects on unemployment flies in the face of hard data collected monthly by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. According to submissions that we received from states, metropolitan planning organizations, and public transit agencies, 8,587 highway and transit projects are under construction in all 50 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, totaling $19.7 billion, as of November 30, 2009. These projects have created or sustained more than 250,000 direct, on-project jobs, with payroll expenditures of $1.3 billion.
Furthermore, these statistics do not include indirect and induced jobs in the supply chain, such as positions that produce construction materials or manufacture equipment. The impact of these jobs is not limited to a single state or local community. For example, the Virginia Railway Express in Northern Virginia used Recovery Act funds to purchase 15 locomotives manufactured in Boise, Idaho. VRE will begin receiving the new locomotives later this summer. While this local decision creates jobs in Virginia, the impact is also felt in Idaho and throughout the country¹s vast supply chain.
When you include these indirect and induced jobs, the Committee calculates that total employment from transportation investments under the Recovery Act reaches over 760,000.
Finally, the AP article criticizes these investments for not making a big enough dent in our economic troubles. Transportation investments make up only six percent of the overall Recovery package, and are not enough by themselves to overcome the high unemployment in the private sector. However, to dismiss them as having no effect at all is like saying it is a waste of time to feed a homeless family because that one act does not cure poverty.
The highway and transit investments in the Recovery Act have created hundreds of thousands of jobs and returned a sense of worth and hope to hundreds of thousands of American families. AP should spend less time looking at unrelated numbers, and more time looking at the effect this legislation is having on real people.
New Highway, Transit, and Clean Water Data Of the $34.3 billion provided for highway and transit formula programs under the Recovery Act, $24.8 billion, or 72 percent, has been put out to bid on 11,304 projects, as of November 30, 2009. Within this total, 9,542 projects (totaling $21.4 billion) are under contract (62 percent). Across the nation, work has begun on 8,587 projects totaling $19.7 billion ¬ that is 57 percent of the total available highway and transit formula funds.
These highway and transit projects have created or sustained more than 250,000 direct, on-project jobs. Total employment from these projects, which includes direct, indirect, and induced jobs, reaches over 760,000.
The figures also show that, despite a slow start, states are moving on their clean water investments under the Recovery Act. The latest totals indicate that projects representing 89 percent of the national total under the Act are now out to bid, and projects representing 49 percent of the total are under contract or under construction.
When all programs are counted, federal, state, and local agencies administering programs within the Committee¹s jurisdiction under the Recovery Act have announced 15,598 transportation and other infrastructure projects totaling $46 billion. This represents 72 percent of the $64.1 billion total fund available.
For the latest Recovery Act data from the T&I Committee, go to:
transportation.house.gov/singlepages/singlepages.aspx.