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Northeast-Midwest Weekly Update -- 8 September 1997
- Subject: Northeast-Midwest Weekly Update -- 8 September 1997
- From: Glenn Starnes <gstarnes@nemw.org>
- Date: Sat, 06 Sep 1997 14:16:35 -0400
- List-Name: GLIN-Announce ----------------------------- Northeast-Midwest Institute
WEEKLY UPDATE
8 September 1997
-----------------------------
TOP OF THE NEWS
TRANSPORTATION FUNDING
----------------------
On September 4, the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure released its long-awaited ISTEA reauthorization
proposal, dubbed the "Building Efficient Surface Transportation and
Equity Act," or BESTEA. The bill would provide a total of $103.2
billion over a three-year period, a 30 percent increase above funding
in the final three years of ISTEA.
Despite the increased funds and the committee's guarantees about
equity ** such as a 95 percent return on Highway Trust Funds dollars
to so-called "donor" states and the assurance that 47 states will
receive at least as much in funding as they received under ISTEA **
the proposed bill has mixed news for the Northeast-Midwest region.
Connecticut and Massachusetts, along with Hawaii, are odd-men-out of
the favored 47, and all New England states lose in terms of their
share of the national pot of funds. Mid-Atlantic states, with the
exception of Pennsylvania, also would receive smaller shares.
Midwestern states, which traditionally have received far fewer funds
than they have contributed in highway taxes, would obtain small
increases, with the Midwest as a whole gaining 1.1 percent of highway
funds.
The table below compares BESTEA funds for fiscal 1998 with the
annual average of funds over the life of ISTEA. It also makes a
constant-dollar comparison, showing BESTEA's distributions to each
state assuming the total U.S. allocation to be the same as ISTEA's
average.
CONTACTS: Paula Duggan and David Richardson at the Northeast-
Midwest Institute (544-5200).
Comparison of ISTEA Average Allocations
Fiscal 1992-1997 and BESTEA Allocations Fiscal 1998
(in thousands of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISTEA
Fiscal Percent BESTEA Percent Constant
1992-1997 of U.S. Fiscal of U.S. Dollar Dollar
State or Region Average Total 1998 Total Comparison Change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
New England
Connecticut 340,471 1.990 275,246 1.297 221,978 -118,493
Maine 87,377 0.511 107,552 0.507 86,738 -639
Massachusetts 830,000 4.850 461,878 2.177 372,492 -457,508
New Hampshire 83,312 0.487 90,971 0.429 73,366 -9,946
Rhode Island 96,821 0.566 94,131 0.444 75,914 -20,907
Vermont 76,345 0.446 85,510 0.403 68,961 -7,384
Total 1,514,326 8.850 1,115,288 5.256 899,449 -614,877
Mid-Atlantic
Delaware 72,873 0.426 85,510 0.403 68,961 -3,912
Maryland 296,446 1.732 323,109 1.523 260,578 -35,868
New Jersey 488,685 2.856 592,428 2.792 477,777 -10,908
New York 944,887 5.522 1,146,381 5.403 924,524 -20,363
Pennsylvania 747,375 4.368 1,072,892 5.057 865,258 117,883
Total 2,550,266 14.904 3,220,320 15.177 2,597,099 46,833
Midwest
Illinois 614,211 3.589 826,586 3.896 666,619 52,408
Indiana 393,602 2.300 521,554 2.458 420,619 27,017
Iowa 202,447 1.183 267,556 1.261 215,776 13,329
Michigan 495,498 2.896 676,442 3.188 545,532 50,034
Minnesota 247,025 1.444 319,199 1.504 257,425 10,400
Ohio 630,685 3.686 810,937 3.822 653,998 23,313
Wisconsin 340,305 1.989 439,395 2.071 354,360 14,055
Total 2,923,773 17.086 3,861,669 18.200 3,114,329 190,556
South
Alabama 304,559 1.780 428,205 2.018 345,335 40,776
Arkansas 207,437 1.212 278,824 1.314 224,864 17,427
Florida 734,049 4.290 987,336 4.653 796,259 62,210
Georgia 520,222 3.040 751,732 3.543 606,251 86,029
Kentucky 267,345 1.562 371,971 1.753 299,984 32,639
Louisiana 252,951 1.478 342,577 1.615 276,279 23,328
Mississippi 197,220 1.153 255,790 1.206 206,288 9,068
North Carolina 455,654 2.663 606,028 2.856 488,745 33,091
Oklahoma 245,760 1.436 325,356 1.533 262,391 16,631
South Carolina 226,079 1.321 340,705 1.606 274,769 48,690
Tennessee 359,150 2.099 485,283 2.287 391,367 32,217
Texas 1,130,379 6.606 1,476,150 6.957 1,190,474 60,095
Virginia 392,376 2.293 548,794 2.586 442,587 50,211
West Virginia 159,282 0.931 224,730 1.059 181,239 21,957
Total 5,452,463 31.864 7,423,481 34.987 5,986,831 534,368
West
Alaska 212,564 1.242 225,814 1.064 182,113 -30,451
Arizona 253,541 1.482 333,017 1.569 268,569 15,028
California 1,613,207 9.427 1,963,968 9.256 1,583,886 -29,321
Colorado 200,694 1.173 268,390 1.265 216,449 15,755
Hawaii 125,696 0.735 108,242 0.510 87,294 -38,402
Idaho 113,709 0.665 127,911 0.603 103,157 -10,552
Kansas 198,431 1.160 256,916 1.211 207,196 8,765
Missouri 381,416 2.229 506,602 2.388 408,560 27,144
Montana 158,942 0.929 145,225 0.684 117,120 -41,822
Nebraska 138,599 0.810 181,429 0.855 146,317 7,718
Nevada 103,093 0.602 123,414 0.582 99,530 -3,563
New Mexico 176,885 1.034 195,193 0.920 157,418 -19,467
North Dakota 104,847 0.613 103,792 0.489 83,705 -21,142
Oregon 205,604 1.202 255,469 1.204 206,029 425
South Dakota 116,338 0.680 109,565 0.516 88,361 -27,977
Utah 128,454 0.751 173,135 0.816 139,629 11,175
Washington 326,942 1.911 402,110 1.895 324,291 -2,651
Wyoming 111,998 0.655 117,124 0.552 94,457 -17,541
Total 4,670,960 27.297 5,597,316 26.380 4,514,080 -156,880
Northeast 4,064,592 23.753 4,335,608 20.434 3,496,548 -568,044
Midwest 2,923,773 17.086 3,861,669 18.200 3,114,329 190,556
NE and MW 6,988,365 40.839 8,197,277 38.633 6,610,876 -377,489
South 5,452,463 31.864 7,423,481 34.987 5,986,831 534,368
West 4,670,960 27.297 5,597,316 26.380 4,514,080 -156,880
South and West 10,123,423 59.161 13,020,797 61.367 10,500,912 377,489
U.S. Total 17,111,788 100.000 21,218,074 100.000 17,111,788 0
SOURCE: Northeast-Midwest staff calculations from Federal Highway
Administration "Actual Fiscal Year 1992-1997 Federal Aid Highway
Program Apportionments Under P.L. 102-240," and House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, "Tables Related to the Building
Efficient Surface Transportation and Equity Act of 1997."
LIHEAP VICTORY
--------------
By a 74-25 margin, the Senate last week turned back an attempt by
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to cut funding for the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Senator Kyl had proposed an amendment to
the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill that would have cut the program by
$528 million and redirected the money towards Pell Grants.
Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition members Arlen Specter (R-PA)
and Tom Harkin (D-IA) ** chairman and ranking member of the Labor-HHS
Appropriations Subcommittee ** led opposition to the amendment.
Senators Specter and Harkin referred several times to the Coalition's
recent letter, signed by 55 senators, asking for an increase in LIHEAP
funding for next year as evidence that the Kyl amendment did not
represent the will of the Senate. In addition, Senators Paul
Wellstone (D-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Olympia
Snowe (R-ME), and James Jeffords (R-VT) spoke against the amendment.
The next battle on the LIHEAP front will be to convince House and
Senate conferees to accept the Senate LIHEAP funding level of $1.2
billion for fiscal 1999. Both the House and Senate are in agreement
to fund the program at $1.0 billion in fiscal 1998, and both chambers
have approved $300 million in emergency funding for fiscal 1998.
CONTACT: Geoff Brown at the Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition
(224-0606).
ROBOTICS EXPO
-------------
On September 30, the Congressional Manufacturing Task Force and
the Senate Task Force on Manufacturing are hosting a Congressional
Expo on Robotics and Intelligent machines in the Caucus Room of the
Cannon House Office Building. The Expo is being presented by the
Robotics and Intelligent Machines Cooperative Council and Sandia
National Labs.
The Expo will feature robotics and intelligent machine
applications in manufacturing, transportation, health care services,
the environment, agriculture, and food processing. Universities,
federal agencies, and more than 15 companies from various states will
participate in the event.
The Expo begins on Tuesday, September 30, with coffee and
pastries at 8:30 a.m. and extends throughout the day.
CONTACT: Geoff Brown at the Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition
(224-0606).
----------------------------
NORTHEAST-MIDWEST INSTITUTE
http://www.nemw.org
mailto:gstarnes@nemw.org
----------------------------