On May 14 the Bush administration formally unveiled its long-awaited legislative proposal for reauthorizing the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the law that funds many of the nation's surface transportation programs. The release of the 378-page proposal sets the stage for Congress to begin crafting its own reautho-rization plan, a process that will probably prove contentious as members of the House and Senate spar with one another and with the White House over the details. However, the most net-tlesome issue by far is expected to center on the extent to which spending for transportation programs should be increased over the $218 billion that TEA-21 authorized over its six years.
展开▼
