EMERSON, POSHARD BACK TRANSPORTATION MEASURE

Two area congressmen want to cruise ahead with a federal transportation bill that would include funding for highway projects in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, and Rep. Glenn Poshard, D-Carterville, Ill., said they support the $153.5 billion measure.

House Democratic leaders late last week postponed action on the bill until September. One reason cited was opposition by some lawmakers to a provision of the bill that calls for a proposed 5-cent boost in federal gasoline taxes.

But both Emerson and Poshard, who serve on the House Public Works and Transportation Committee that drafted the measure, said the bill is vital to addressing the nation's transportation needs.

"This is an important bill to Southern Illinois and the nation," said Poshard.

But he said he agreed with the decision of the Democratic leadership to postpone a vote on the bill until after the August recess.

"It's better that we hold off until September," said Poshard. "There's a lot to be resolved in the bill, and with the crush of business at the end of this session, we just couldn't finalize all the issues."

Emerson said the delay was prompted less by opposition to a hike in the gas tax than by a jurisdictional dispute between House committees as to appropriation procedures.

"The merits of the bill are not the issue," he maintained.

Emerson said of the bill, "This is an investment in America." He said the measure would restore and improve the nation's more-than-30-year-old interstate-highway system. "It needs repair," he said. "We need link-ups."

The bill would result in 2 million new construction jobs, Emerson said.

Some political commentators have referred to the transportation bill as a pork-barrel measure. But the Republican congressman disagreed with that view.

"What it is, is roads and bridges, growth, economic development, international competitiveness." Improving the nation's transportation system is vital for economic development, he said.

Federal funding, he said, is essential for improved highways. "Without the feds, we don't build roads."

Under the federal highway act of 1956, those who use the highways pay a federal gas tax, with the money going into a trust fund for use in financing transportation projects.

"Highways don't come out of thin air," said Emerson. "They have to be paid for, and I'm saying a nickel-a-gallon gas tax is a small price to be paid for the benefits that would be derived."

Under the proposal, the federal gas tax, now 14.1 cents a gallon, would rise to 19.1 cents Jan. 1. Last year's nickel-a-gallon increase, scheduled to expire in 1995, would be extended three years. Diesel taxes also would be increased.

To the average family the cost would be small, he said. For a family of four that travels 15,000 miles a year with a vehicle that gets 20 miles to the gallon, the annual cost of a nickel gas tax would be $37.50, Emerson said.

Emerson said the highway bill would provide Missouri with a greater share of federal gas tax money than it now receives.

Under the bill, Missouri stands to gain $2.5 billion over the next five years. "It's double what we are now getting through the federal gas tax," he said.

That means more money would be available to fund construction of roads and road improvements in Missouri, said Emerson.

Among other things, the bill would provide $1.5 million for a feasibility study regarding the proposed Interstate 66 project. The coast-to-coast highway has been pushed locally by the Regional Commerce and Growth Association, which envisions the route passing through Southeast Missouri and the Cape Girardeau region. Under the measure, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department would be authorized to conduct the I-66 study.

Emerson said the bill would provide funding for improvements to a number of major roads in Southeast Missouri, including Highways 60, 63 and 67.

The increased highway funding for Missouri could also aid efforts to get a highway built from Southeast Missouri to the central part of the state, Emerson said. He said there could be funding available for a feasibility study of an improved Highway 72 route to Jefferson City.

"If we pass this law," said Emerson, "I see a highway to central Missouri as a doable thing within the next 10 years."

The bill would provide over $30 million in funding for 14 projects in Southern Illinois, Poshard said. The projects include: a feasibility study for a toll road connecting Carbondale to the St. Louis area; upgrading of Route 13, a major artery for east-west traffic in Southern Illinois; reconstruction of Feather Trail Road in Pulaski County, a project vital to the $800 million construction of the Olmsted Locks and Dam; and construction of a Shawnee View Parkway through the Shawnee National Forest in Union and Johnson counties.

Emerson and Poshard said they hope lawmakers will be ready to consider the bill when the House reconvenes Sept. 11. Both said they would like to see the bill approved and sent to President Bush to be signed into law by the end of September.