House Democrats Block Tranportation Extension The extension died Tuesday after an afternoon of angry partisan acrimony, with both sides invoking Thomas Jefferson to bolster their argument, and blaming each other for past failures. The measure required that two-thirds of the House vote to suspend the rules, and it failed on a voice vote. Federal transportation funding pumps about $1 billion a week into the economy, with much of it focused on the construction season that gets underway in most states next month. "The delays are costing jobs," Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said, arguing for the House to approve a bipartisan Senate transportation bill rather than the proposed 60-day extension. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) reminded the Democrats that they failed to approve a transportation bill between 2007 and 2011, when they controlled both houses of Congress. "If they truly cared about rebuilding our infrastructure they would have passed a bill," Shuster said. In a Congress that has achieved little of note other than bitter partisan warfare, the Senate this year pieced together a transportation bill that would provide $109 billion over two years, winning support from both sides of the aisle in a 72-22 vote that was hailed as a model of bipartisanship. A bill that Mica shepherded through his committee fared less well when it reached the House floor. Ambitious in its effort to overhaul the federal system and give greater authority to the states, it ran into bipartisan opposition from urban lawmakers by ending dedicated funding for mass transit. It also riled the bipartisan Congressional bike caucus by eliminating dedicated funds for cycling and pedestrian programs. If the House fails to pass an extension or approve the Senate bill before it adjourns Thursday for an Easter break, transportation funding will expire at midnight Saturday. Shuster said "failing to pass a bill is not an option," and everyone seemed to agree that failure would be a far bigger catastrophe than the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration last summer when a bitter battle stalled extension of its funding. But the immediate impact of this potential funding expiration was not as clear. States pay for transportation projects with their own funding and then seek reimbursement from the federal government. "Projects that are underway night not come to a halt," said Matthew Jeanneret of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. But if this drags on a long time, states are going to have a greater degree of uncertainty. If funding expires, however, so too will the federal government's authority to collect the 18.4 cent per gallon gasoline tax which pays, in large measure, for transportation funding.