Can the Columbia River Crossing survive the Tea Party?

The historic deficit-reduction deal that conservative Republicans wrested from the Obama administration two weeks ago, as well as the subsequent downgrade of U.S. government debt by Standard & Poor's, has delivered a potent one-two punch to business as usual in Washington, D.C.

Big-ticket projects like the CRC, which is relying on Uncle Sam for half its $3 billion price tag, are facing the specter of some of its most important funding sources getting significantly downsized or cut altogether.

John Mica, Republican chair of the House Transportation Committee, has proposed slashing spending on surface transportation projects over the next six years by 35 percent. Republicans have also called for eliminating altogether the New Starts program that funds mass transit.

The CRC's funding was never locked down. But the national budget squeeze makes the funding even more speculative.

The CRC has worked for years on an environmental impact statement and other crucial planning work – at a cost of more than $130 million – needed to qualify for some of the federal support.

Killing New Starts would put a $850 million hole in the CRC's funding. It could also throw a major wrench into TriMet's Portland-Miwaukie light rail extension, which is counting on New Starts for half of its $1.4 billion price.

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Nancy Boyd, CRC director, said she's optimistic that lawmakers will recognize the national and regional importance of the CRC. "We certainly realize that federal dollars are shrinking," she said. "But we continue to feel that we have a competitive project for whatever federal programs may be available."

The CRC is studying how to phase construction into sequences that will match the work with the availability of government money.

Mica, R-Fla, has proposed a six-year, $230 billion transportation bill that would slash spending by about a third from existing levels. His plan would make the federal highway trust fund stand on its own and end the regular infusions of general fund cash.

"Our years of excessive deficit spending are at an end," Mica wrote in July. "The priorities of the American taxpayer have been and will be placed ahead of the unchecked desires of some in Washington to spend money that is borrowed..."

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has proposed her own transportation bill that maintains funding at current levels.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, a long-time member of the transportation committee, lamented Mica's position, saying its bad for the economy and the nation's transportation infrastructure.

"A 35 percent reduction means 600,000 construction jobs lost," the Eugene Democrat said. "We're already spending less than we need to keep up on improvements to the existing degraded infrastructure. It's nuts. They're nuts."

It's not just liberal Democrats criticizing Mica's plan. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other mainstream business groups have questioned the cut, citing its impact on the transportation infrastructure and the economy.

But the deficit hawks are not backing off. Indeed, after their successful stare-down of the Obama administration in the debt ceiling fight, they are emboldened.

Led by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, some Republicans are now vowing to kill off the federal gas tax itself, the primary funding source of the federal highway trust fund. The 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax, which generates $34 billion a year, expires in September.

Congress has routinely extended the gas tax in past years. But nothing is routine these days in Washington, D.C.

The New Starts program has been a mainstay funder of Portland light rail projects. It is the largest single source of CRC funding expected to provide about $850 million.

But New Starts too is feeling the pinch. Its budget has already been ratcheted back 20 percent in 2011 to $1.6 billion. The influential Republican Study Group, made up of House conservatives, has targeted the program for elimination.

Neil McFarlane, TriMet general manager, pointed out that the Republicans' suggested cuts are only proposals, opening bids in a likely protracted round of horsetrading. He voiced confidence that the New Starts program will survive, if perhaps downsized. He added that he expects the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail line is far enough long that it will get the full $749 million in New Starts money it is hoping for.

The CRC already suffered some significant funding woes. It's initial plan was to get the needed $3 billion from the two states ($450 million each,) tolling ($1.3 billion) and the balance from the federal government ($1.2 billion.)

But in July outside consulting firms hired by the Oregon Treasury determined that the CRC was using overly optimistic traffic projections. The upshot was that tolling would likely generate half-a-billion fewer dollars than originally anticipated, making the CRC more reliant than ever on federal money.

The report did little for the CRC's credibility and made some regional politicians wary of getting behind the project.

"I want to be an advocate in Congress for a new bridge, but right now it's tough to be taken seriously by the people with the green eyeshades in D.C.," said Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash. "This project needs a rock-solid financing plan. Right now, there are just too many unanswered questions."

Herrera-Beutler reiterated her call for an up-or-down vote in Clark County to determine whether her constituents actually back the project. Southwest Washington residents will be among the primary beneficiaries of a supersized connection to Portland. They will also bear a good share of the financial burden under the tolling plan.

DeFazio said the CRC's size and cost work against it in the current environment.

"I kept on telling the project to keep the costs down, don't build a gold-plated project," a clearly frustrated DeFazio said. "How can you have a $4 billion project? They let the engineers loose, told them to solve all the region's infrastructure problems in one fell swoop... They need to get it all straight and come up with a viable project, a viable financing plan that can withstand a vigorous review."