As many Nebraska communities are, I am very concerned about the delays that have kept local roads projects from moving forward.

The purpose of the economic stimulus bill was to place shovel-ready projects under contract as soon as possible in order to create jobs and improve the transportation infrastructure in Nebraska.

I recently was asked a question about what I thought about federal oversight of local stimulus projects. My answer was oversight was necessary to provide transparency and make sure taxpayer's money was being spent wisely. I also stated that oversight should not delay the use of stimulus money and the creation of jobs.

These potential local stimulus projects originally were screened by the Nebraska Department of Roads to make sure they were shovel-ready and then ultimately selected in cooperation with the Nebraska League of Municipalities and the Nebraska Association of County Officials.

After projects had been selected, my office received calls from the League, NACO and several counties and cities alerting us that they had run in to federal documentation roadblocks. I immediately began making inquiries to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as to the cause of these problems and what could be done to expedite the solutions.

The response I received was that additional review was necessary due to a FHWA audit of the Local Public Agency program in Nebraska found inadequate oversight had been provided by NDOR and new measures were required to ensure federal regulations were being followed.

As part of this process, the FHWA State Division office assured me that all new regulations were being developed in cooperation and coordination with NDOR.

During a meeting with FHWA Administrator-designee Victor Mendez prior to his confirmation hearing, I approached this very subject and expressed my deep interest in making sure FHWA, NDOR and counties and municipalities build a strong relationship to avoid unnecessary delays while making sure all rules are followed.

Mendez assured me that if he is confirmed it will be a priority to review what is happening and work to resolve the issues that have plagued these projects. While we have seen some progress by the Nebraska FHWA office by committing additional staff and resources to address local project concerns, many more strides need to be taken.

There is no question federal rules must be followed if federal funds are involved. However, my concern was and still is that the processes being implemented may be more stringent than necessary to correct the problem.

Costs are escalating, the public is being denied needed improvements and the jobs these projects could create are being put on hold. I believe the question that needs to be asked is, "After all this additional review and new requirements, how have the projects changed?" If the answer is minimally, I would argue that nothing has been accomplished other than higher costs and delayed improvements.

It has never been the intention to affix blame as to why these projects are not progressing.

Rather, my objective is to find out what needs to be accomplished so that projects can commence and put people to work.

The bottom line is this: Instead of looking for reasons to justify saying no, all involved need to work together to find resolution. This requires directly addressing regulatory issues and policy decisions at the federal and state level; and finding common sense approaches to address those concerns.

I will continue my efforts at the federal level and will work with all parties involved to find a process assuring compliance with federal regulations without imposing unreasonable restrictions on local agencies in order to get these projects moving forward.

Sen. Ben Nelson was re-elected

to a second term in 2006.