WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) voted against the stimulus bill passed by Congress in early 2009, and she says that bill which contained more than $800 billion in new federal spending continues to disappoint Missourians.  According to the Eighth District’s member of Congress, only $86 million of the state’s $974 million in requests from two key transportation grant programs have been fulfilled.

“Hurry up and wait is not a good strategy for stimulating our economy. I opposed the stimulus for two reasons: the spending was irresponsibly high, and I saw no way this money could be spent accountably by the federal government.  The administration has proven both of these criticisms to be correct,” Emerson said. “We have a real need to spur growth in our rural economy, and we need strong transportation infrastructure not only to create jobs, but also to keep them,” Emerson stated.

Emerson says the focus of transportation funding should not be the stimulus, but rather the five-year federal highway authorization bill which identifies priority projects throughout the country.

“Investing in our transportation infrastructure should be an important priority, but you have to use a logical process to do it and the stimulus isn’t logical,” Emerson said. “We have spent only about one quarter of the stimulus funds intended for transportation well over a year after that bill passed. Missouri had important transportation projects in the works then, and we have even more important transportation priorities today. Passage of a federal transportation bill is going to create jobs almost immediately, and the expenditure of the funds is transparent and can start right away. A highway bill can succeed where the stimulus has failed, and I don’t understand the hesitation to move this legislation.”

The focus should also be on regions that need help the most because they are economically-distressed, Emerson noted, yet only 60 percent of grant projects from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program are destined for such areas.

“Our rural part of the state is the heart of our nation’s agricultural and manufacturing economies,” Emerson said. “I fight hard year after year for transportation priorities that underpin those important parts of Southern Missouri’s productivity.”