“We went through this last year, when several Senators decided to tinker with the numbers, and it cost us a bill,” Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said. “Last month, we passed another highway bill, and now they want to do it all over again. Montana is about to lose another construction season because of it, so I’m telling Senate obstructionists: ‘Stop messing with the highway bill.’”

President Bush has threatened to veto any version of the Highway Bill that exceeds the House-approved $284 billion – an amount that provides Montana with $1.931 billion over the six-year period.  The measure stalled last year with the Senate insisting on a higher price tag, drawing the threat of a presidential veto.

 “It took a long time to get the Administration and Senate leadership on the same page with us in order to complete this monumental measure,” said Rehberg, who helped write the legislation last year as a member of the Transportation Committee and the Highway bill House and Senate Conference Committee. “Now, however, all these Montana projects that are waiting to begin are about to be sidelined, thanks to a group of Senators who have decided once again to thumb their noses at the President and toy around with the numbers. At the end of the day, all we’ll have are construction delays and another year wasted.”

In the House version of the bill, Rehberg secured $12 million toward completion of highway 323, from Ekalaka to Alzada, plus $4 million for a downtown, Bozeman, parking garage.

 “With more money for our state than the previous six-year highway bill, it's a win-win for Montana, not only because of new roads and infrastructure improvements, but also because it translates in thousands of jobs for us,” Rehberg said. “Construction season is underway. It’s time to get moving.”