Oregon Public Broadcasting

Transportation officials from Washington D.C. were in Portland Wednesday to rally support for reauthorizing the national Surface Transportation bill. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The bill is usually reauthorized every six years.  It sets priorities for spending on everything from mass transit to the nation's highways.

The chair of the House Transportation Committee, Jim Oberstar, visited a bridge over the Willamette in Eugene and the Burnside Bridge in Portland to stress the need for the Obama Administration to move on reauthorization.

Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio also sits on the transportation committee and says the administration does appear to be responding.

Peter DeFazio: "This is real jobs, this is real investment. This is what we need. They've finally come around, that's great. But it should have happened a year ago. We should have had this done last October. We could have had 6 million more jobs today."

President Obama announced a plan on Labor Day to improve the nation's infrastructure.  He said it would spur job growth.

DeFazio estimates that for every $1 billion spent on infrastructure, 34,000 jobs are created.

Republicans counter that less federal spending allows private sector businesses to grow and create jobs.