Revisiting the TEA-21 Reauthorization: Extensions And Delays

On September 30, 2003, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the authorizing legislation for the surface transportation system, was set to expire. With no reauthorization bill in sight and to avoid a shutdown of the Federal surface transportation program, the U.S. Congress approved legislation to extend funding for 5 months and President George W. Bush signed the extension. The legislation extended provisions under TEA-21 and continued authorizations at fiscal year 2003 levels. This would be the first of 12 extensions over a period of 680 days before the executive and legislative branches could agree on the next reauthorization bill. The intermittent extensions of TEA-21 disrupted the flow of Federal funding for transportation projects for 2 years. Only the signing of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users in August 2005 stabilized that funding. This article examines the causes and impacts of the extensions. On the most fundamental level, Congress extended the surface transportation program for almost 2 years because congressional members could not agree on the provisions of a new multiyear reauthorization. The major issues that caused delay included the level of spending, sources of funding, and overall program costs. The options for raising revenue also proved contentious. The extension acts avoided the detrimental effects of a complete shutdown of the Federal surface transportation program. However, the numerous extensions had wide-ranging effects on State partners and their ability to deliver ongoing and new transportation projects on time. The impacts included funding uncertainty; delay and reduction in construction activity; difficulty in planning long-term, more expensive projects; reduction in highway spending causing ripple effects throughout the broader local, State, and regional economies; erosion of purchasing power; damage to public expectations of government stewardship of transportation system; and safety concerns.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/09mar/01.cfm
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1586080
• Authors:
  • Haifley, John
  • Hawkinson, Ben
  • Price, Jeff
• Publication Date: 2009-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: pp 2-7
• Serial:
  • Public Roads
  • Volume: 72
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration
  • ISSN: 0033-3735
  • Serial URL: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Federal government; Government funding; Legislation; Policy making; Political factors; Transportation planning; Transportation policy
• Identifier Terms: Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Policy; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01133774
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 16 2009 8:04AM