Sen. Lincoln re-election could be part of I-49 funding

story by Michael Tilley

The history of Bill Clinton dancing down Garrison Avenue in Fort Smith may offer a lesson in how to best seek the funding and construction of Interstate 49.

Seriously.

Congress is expected during this session to draft a new federal highway bill that would dictate what transportation projects get funded and how much funding they receive.

I-49 — which stretches from Texarkana, up through Dequeen, Mena and Waldron, into Fort Smith and on through Northwest Arkansas — would be a tremendous economic development engine for all of Arkansas. All that stands in the way of this interstate reality is several small segments at the Arkansas-Louisiana and Arkansas Missouri borders and a large 185-mile segment between Texarkana and Fort Smith that posts a price tag of around $3 billion.

The interstate project did receive a boost from the federal stimulus bill approved in early March. Arkansas officials committed to I-49 about $71.6 million of $335.83 million in federal stimulus highway money, and are teaming with Missouri highway officials to seek an additional $250 million for I-49.

CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS
With the Interstate 49 Coalition still dead in the water, U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, and U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, provide the only known active leadership in pushing for adequate I-49 funding. In February they began reforming the I-49 Caucus, a group of Congressmen from Kansas City to Shreveport, La., whose districts include portions of the proposed I-49 route.

“Congressman Ross and I re-established the I-49 Caucus in February and are working to re-engage members of the delegations residing along I-49 in preparation of the Highway Reauthorization,” Boozman wrote in a note to The City Wire. “We’re hoping we can have just as much success for funding of I-49 in the upcoming Highway Bill that we received in the past.”

Boozman explained that the I-49 Caucus in 2003 brought U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wisc., and then chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to the Fort Smith region to learn more about the need for funding.

“Most of our country’s highways run east to west and this is a north to south corridor that with continued Congressional support proves to be a vital resource to our infrastructure,” noted the statement from Boozman’s office.

LEADERSHIP VACUUM
The Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, which once provided I-49 lobbying leadership, has yet to re-engage the I-49 Coalition. Interim Chamber President Sandy Sanders said the issue will be part of the chamber board’s April 16 meeting.

“We need to see if we can’t kick start that group again,” said Sanders, who officially assumed the interim job Feb. 1. “It’s disappointing that we hit the lull that we had. We’ve not had any forward momentum in a good long while.”

Sanders said a possible action would be for the chamber board to create an I-49 committee, with a member of the chamber board to take responsibility for seeing that the chamber “start to reconnect” with members of the I-49 Coalition and be “responsible to get the activity back in gear.”

TOO LATE FOR GRASSROOTS
David Olive says it’s very “late in the game” for communities in western Arkansas to form and push a grassroots effort to influence the federal highway bill.
 
But Olive, the former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson and a government relations and public affairs consultant now based in Washington, D.C., has an approach that could help the I-49 cause by making its funding a key issue in the re-election of U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.
 
Recent poll numbers suggest that Lincoln, up for re-election in the 2010 Congressional mid-term elections, is vulnerable if a strong Republican candidate emerges. That “vulnerability” could be the primary driver in gaining funding for I-49.
 
Olive prefaces his approach with a reminder about the long-ago bet between Times Record editor Jack Moseley and Gov. Bill Clinton. Moseley bet Clinton that if the governor carried Sebastian County, Moseley would dance with Bill and Hillary down Garrison Avenue. Bill did and they danced.
 
That history being retold, Olive suggests maybe the business and civic leaders of western Arkansas challenge Lincoln to a similar “deal.”
 
“In other words, lay the gauntlet down that this will be the No. 1 campaign issue in western Arkansas. If Sen. Lincoln is serious about making inroads into Republican western Arkansas, then she should deliver on I-49,” Olive explained.
 
“Look, this is a huge race for Harry Reid (U.S. Senator from Nevada and Senate Majority Leader) and the Democrats in the Senate. … If the poll numbers are accurate, then Lincoln’s re-election campaign should be a high-profile race that will be watched very closely by the Senate leadership because they are so close to a 60-plus vote filibuster-proof majority.”
 
An innovative way for Lincoln to capture more votes in western Arkansas would be to convince Reid, Senate committee leaders and federal highway officials, as well as House Democratic leaders, to make field trips to the proposed I-49 route through Arkansas, and get them to commit to provide current funding for the project.
 
“She would have to come out publicly for immediate and full funding of I-49 and make it a big part of her campaign that she can deliver on what others have only talked about doing,” Olive explained. “The big winner in this could be the entire western half of Arkansas and Lincoln would be in a position to garner the praise.”
 
Olive continued, “She’s strong in Jonesboro, east Arkansas and south Arkansas, but this could potentially secure her a bigger part of the western Arkansas vote. Conversely, the failure of Senate leadership to embrace and fund this project as a key part of Lincoln’s campaign would send the message that her presence in the Senate just isn’t that important to them.”