Today, Congressman Mike Michaud joined his fellow colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management to hold a hearing on the General Services Administration’s (GSA) waste of taxpayer dollars on a lavish conference as well as other incidents of waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars.

“I was appalled when I first heard about some of the things that GSA charged to taxpayers,” said Michaud, a senior member of the subcommittee. “Many of these expenses were in violation of rules designed to help small businesses and prevent excessive spending. In fact, according to the Inspector General’s report, those planning the conference were told to ‘make it over the top,’ and several suggestions to minimize expenses were ignored.”

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Congresswoman Chellie Pingree has joined an effort to get a transportation bill through the US House before the current funding expires at the end of this month. Pingree has cosponsored a bipartisan transportation bill that was overwhelmingly passed by the Senate last week and contains an important provision that would preserve critical funding for the Downeaster passenger rail service.

“The transportation bill passed by the Senate is one that Democrats and Republicans can agree on. If Republican leaders in the House would just let us vote on it, we could get it on the President’s desk before the current funding runs out at the end of the month. But instead they are stuck on a highly partisan bill that slashes infrastructure investments and ends federal funding for the Downeaster,” said Pingree. said.

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By Congressman Mike Michaud

As a nation, we can’t afford to abandon infrastructure improvements. They are job creators, and they are necessary to our overall economic growth. Thankfully the Senate recently passed a bipartisan bill that will move us forward. With over 7,000 jobs in Maine on the line, it’s time for the House to act too.

As a longtime member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I know how critical it is to maintain and improve our highways and bridges. It not only provides for increased safety, but it also promotes productivity and boosts our nation’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.

But we have to do better than the status quo if we want to grow our economy and really move out of this recession.

That’s why I joined with my colleagues on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to introduce the bipartisan Senate transportation bill that recently passed by a vote of 74 to 22. We also called on House leaders to abandon their partisan transportation bill and bring the Senate bill up for immediate consideration.

The bill has a long title – the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act” (H.R. 14) – but a simple mission: to move our nation forward and create desperately needed jobs. The bill maintains investments for highways and public transportation, consolidates and streamlines highway programs, strengthens safety, eliminates earmarks, establishes a national freight program, institutes performance measures and improves accountability for transportation infrastructure investments. At a time when 50 percent of our nation’s roads are in disrepair and 70,000 bridges are structurally deficient, we can’t afford inaction on this issue.

Unlike the House bill, which slashes funding and eliminates over 500,000 jobs, MAP-21 continues current funding levels, sustaining approximately 1.9 million American jobs. Under the Senate bill, states will receive $3.8 billion more in highway construction funding than the House bill over the course of the next two years.

This transportation legislation is by far the biggest jobs bill Congress will consider this year. It has a significant impact on Maine too – according to estimates by the U.S. Department of Transportation, 7,400 jobs in our state would be supported by the funding levels contained in the bill.

But we must act soon. On March 31st, authorization for current transportation program funding will expire. If allowed to expire, transportation projects around the country will grind to a halt. We saw what happened when the Federal Aviation Administration programs were allowed to expire, and we can’t let history repeat itself. Our economic recovery can’t afford another massive shutdown.

Unfortunately, as I write this, House leaders are not planning to bring up the Senate-passed bill. Instead, they’ll seek to move a 3 month extension of current law, something that the Senate opposes. This would be the 9th of these short-term extensions, which removes certainty from transportation planning at a time our states can least afford it.

It is imperative that Congress gets a bill to the President as soon as possible. As our economy shows some additional signs of recovery, we can’t pull the rug out from under it by ignoring our critical infrastructure needs.

Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree will introduce an amendment to preserve federal funding for the Downeaster passenger rail line in a transportation funding bill now being considered by the House.

“The Downeaster is critical to communities throughout our state,” said Michaud. “A lot of hard work has gone into making it a success. As our economy continues to recover, it just doesn’t make sense to eliminate support for a service that Maine businesses and families rely on.”

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Congressman Mike Michaud praised Senate passage of a bill that contains a fix for Maine’s truck weight problem. Last month, Michaud urged leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to retain language in a Senate appropriations bill that would renew and make permanent a one-year pilot project on truck weight limits in Maine. Michaud has also personally pressed this issue with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle in the House.

“This is good news, and I will continue to do everything I can to support this provision,” said Michaud, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “Moving trucks off our local roads and onto the Interstate makes sense. It would be good for our economy, road safety, and our environment.”

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“This grant will be used to replace high-mileage buses well past their useful life, and couldn’t come at a better time,” said South Portland Transportation Director Tom Meyers. “Ridership on our system this fiscal year is up almost 15 percent from last year. These new buses will help us provide the reliable service our customers expect, and entice others to try public transportation.”

Last November, the top federal official for public transit funding—Administrator Peter Rogoff—came to Portland at Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s invitation to talk to state and local officials about their transportation needs. Rogoff was able to see the area’s needs on a tour of Portland METRO’s garage facility. Today the federal Department of Transportation announced over $3 million for publictransit projects in Portland, South Portland and Sanford.

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I’d like to talk about something we can all relate to – horrible roads. We’ve all seen them in our neighborhoods, on our way to work, or in our travels around the state.

From Bangor to St. Francis and Holden to Bucksport, the potholes, cracks in the roads, and the sometimes impassable bridges damage our vehicles and make it harder for us to get where we need to go.

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Today Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced that the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority would receive $20.82 million for work on the Downeaster rail line between Boston and Brunswick.

“This is a critical investment to improve the Downeaster line by making it more reliable. If we want to continue to grow its ridership, the line has to make the trip between Maine and Boston as quickly and consistently as possible,” said Pingree. “The Downeaster is a great tool for economic development for the region, but it’s important that we make the needed investments to reach its full potential.”

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Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced three Department of Transportation grants today that will invest over $15 million in Maine airports.

“This money will help Maine’s airports grow and stay competitive while supporting hundreds of jobs. Our airports are a critical piece of our economic infrastructure and it’s important that we take care of them,” said Pingree. “Investments in the Brunswick Executive Airport are especially important as we look to create new uses and job-engines at the site of Brunswick Naval Shipyard.”

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A new environmentally friendly $45 million port of entry which will connect Maine to St. Leonard, New Brunswick held its groundbreaking Saturday.

“Today’s groundbreaking marks the beginning of an immense undertaking made possible through a strong partnership between US Customs and Border Protection and the US General Services Administration,” said Bob Zarnetske, GSA regional administrator. “CBP and GSA have worked with local officials to design a new port that will use modern technology to enhance border security, speed the flow of commerce and reduce our reliance on foreign energy.”

The new facility, funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is expected to be completed by July 2013. Congressman Mike Michaud and Senator’s Snowe and Collins attended the groundbreaking.

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