The responsibility for Kentucky funding the Brent Spence Bridge replacement falls on Senate President David Williams and Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Hebron, told a crowd of business leaders in Covington on Friday.
The ban on congressional earmarks means the states control where federal dollars go, Davis said.
The decision for Williams and Stumbo comes down to whether they will put the money in rural areas or urban areas, he said. Davis said Northern Kentucky state legislators should block any legislation in Frankfort until this question is addressed.
“David Williams and Greg Stumbo talked openly about wanting tolling,” Davis said. “That is the wrong solution. That simply gives them the means to keep more federal dollars in other places for projects they want. That’s unfair to Northern Kentucky, which is a net payer to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to be penalized when those dollars need to be invested here.”
Davis spoke to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce about his decision not to run for re-election and predictions for the 2012 election but spent a significant amount of time on funding for the Brent Spence Bridge replacement.
“If that bridge fails, it will be because of leadership in Frankfort and in Columbus that chooses to play selfish priorities, their choice, apart from the commerce of the United States and of this metropolitan area,” Davis said.
Stumbo, in a statement, put the responsibility back on Congress
“As I said earlier this month, if Congressman Davis can secure more federal funds, we will try to do our part,” Stumbo said in a statement.
A federal program that would fund regional projects of national significance won’t likely get through the divided Congress during the presidential election year, Davis said. The traffic on the bridge transports 3.8 percent of the annual gross domestic product in the country, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, Davis said.
“I’ve told the leadership in Frankfort that if they would invest in funding here with a project like this, what will happen is that the net revenues to the state will increase because of the job creation that comes as a result of that,” Davis said.
Davis also talked about the upcoming presidential election. While he believes Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels would have won if he chose to run, Davis said Mitt Romney stands the best chance of success for Republicans in the general election, giving him 50-50 odds of beating President Barack Obama. It will come down to voter turnout and nine states, including Ohio.
If the Republicans nominated Rick Santorum, they would likely lose the House of Representative , Davis said.
“He’d be a disaster as a president,” Davis said. “He wasn’t that good of a senator or a congressman. I can tell you from the polling, we’d probably lose the House of Representative.”
He said the most important political goal for Kentucky is for Republicans to gain control of the U.S. Senate so U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell could become the majority leader.
“That’ll mean John Boehner will still be the speaker,” Davis said. “Having the front and back door between the House and Senate is very critical to moving legislation. That is not going to hurt us here in the Commonwealth.”
Davis didn’t predict who will replace him in the Fourth Congressional District race other than that it will be a Republican. Nine people have filed to run for his Congressional seat–seven Republicans and two Democrats–after Davis announced in December he would not seek re-election.
Davis thought about the decision to retire from Congress for about a year, and had mostly made up his mind by last spring. Davis, who didn’t meet his own father until he was 24-years old and in the Army, said he wants to spend more time with his wife, six children and grandson. The reaction from his children confirmed his decision, he said.
“My son Daniel, who’s 11,…he looks up at me, his eyes filled with tears and he came around the couch, around the coffee table, put his arms around me and said ‘Thank you,’” Davis said. “That confirmation to me, I have to tell you, was probably greater than anything I can explain. Each of you who are parents can understand those special moments you have with your kids. There’s the true story for the tabloids.”
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