As Congress resumes work on the long-stalled successor to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta says he opposes extending the highway and transit programs for one or two years. Instead, he's pushing for a multi-year bill whose funding is close to the $247-billion "SAFETEA" measure he proposed last year.

Speaking Jan. 22 at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' winter meeting, in Washington, D.C., Mineta said, "There is no governor or any mayor who can do any planning if we have only a one- or two-year bill....So I am fighting this one- or two-year concept." He noted that some see extending TEA-21 for a year or two as an easy solution to the problems that have blocked a multi-year bill so far on Capitol Hill. But Mineta, himself a former mayor of San Jose, Calif., disagreed, saying, "It is not an easy way out."