U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler again voted against the stimulus package.

The House vote on the conference report of the $737 billion bill fell mostly along partisan lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against.

Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, was one of eight Democrats who voted against it.

In a statement, he said that the bill should have focused more on infrastructure spending and programs with an immediate impact, such as extending unemployment insurance. 

"In the end, this bill simply contained entirely too much spending in areas that will not provide an immediate stimulative effect to our nation's economy," he said. 

He added that he was "remarkably disappointed" that members of Congress did not have "adequate time" to review the bill before the vote.

Earlier this week, Shuler criticized the bill at an event in Raleigh.

Can infrastructure spending turn the economy around?

A number of current and former politicians argued that long-delayed road, transit and water system projects can generate jobs and give a jolt to the economy.

Speaking at the annual Emerging Issues Forum in Raleigh, former Gov. Jim Hunt said the state can do "big and bold things that can last a long time."

Less than 8 percent of the Senate's $827 billion stimulus package is directed at infrastructure, while about 11 percent of the House's $820 billion version is for public construction needs.

That would boost the $1.1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure spending each year, but it's a fraction of the $2.2 trillion in needs over the next five years, according to a report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

"Our infrastructure system's parts are not serving their intended purposes," said ASCE President Wayne Klotz. (AP)

The U.S has quit changing the oil of its car.

That was the analogy made Monday by Wayne Klotz, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, during a talk in downtown Raleigh, Rob Christensen reports.

Earlier this year, the engineers released a reporting giving the U.S. a grade of "D" for keeping up its infrastructure.

"We are simply not spending enough money," Klotz told about 1,000 North Carolina leaders at the Emerging Issues Forum.

Although there are no updated figures on North Carolina, Klotz noted that the engineers gave the state a "C-minus" grade in 2006.

More after the jump.

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House Speaker Joe Hackney said the recession and the accompanying federal stimulus program offer a chance to get some badly needed projects done across the state.

President Barack Obama and Gov. Beverly Perdue both campaign on promises to push green jobs and better insulate homes against the weather, Ben Niolet reports.

Speaking at a luncheon sponsored by the liberal N.C. Policy Watch think tank today, Hackney said the stimulus package, which could send billions to the state, would pay for a lot of those items. 

"Some things that have needed doing for a long time ... will get done," Hackney said

North Carolina could see nearly a billion dollars in infrastructure cash from the economic stimulus package being considered in Congress.

Most of the money, $802 million, would go to highway and bridge projects around the state, Barb Barrett reports.

Here's how the rest of it breaks down:

* $104.7 million, to the state's Clean Water State Revolving Fund
* $88.8 million, to public transit capital projects
* $358,479, to fixed guideway modernization

The current version of the package is still being debated in the House of Representatives. It was approved Wednesday by the Appropriations Committee, the House's spending panel.

After being approved, the House's transportation and infrastructure committee ran the numbers through the federal highway funding formula to come up with the breakdown.

That transportation formula shortchanges North Carolina a bit, as the state pays more into the federal coffers in gas tax than it gets in return.

A billion dollars doesn’t begin to cover what the state says it needs. North Carolina's Department of Transportation listed 296 "ready-to-go-projects," totaling more than $5 billion, in a recent survey by a national organization of state transportation agencies.

Once the package is passed by the House, it next goes to the U.S. Senate.

With Congress likely to soon consider a huge stimulus package, the Institute for Emerging Issues has scheduled a two-conference on the subject.

Jim Hunt, the former four-term governor, met at lunch with journalists at his law office at Womble Carlyle this afternoon to discuss the forum which will be held Feb. 9 and 10th, Rob Christensen reports.

This year's topic is what North Carolina needs to do improve its infrastructure including building, roads, bridges, water and sewer lines, schools and rail.

The Institute chooses a subject every year to discuss such as taxes or energy.

Hunt, the founder of the forum, said it was luck that infrastructure is so timely because the subject was chosen more than a year ago. The forum, which will be held for the first time at the new Raleigh Convention Center, will include speakers such as Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, New York Times columnist David Brooks, Gov. Beverly Perdue, and and former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Hunt said state spending for road and schools and other projects had not kept pace with growth.

"We have to to do more building," Hunt said "and we got to rethink how we build."

Because of the federal stimulus package, North Carolina should get a lot of new money for public works projects.

The Institute already has working groups preparing recommendations to be discussed at the forum. Hunt hopes the conference will produce some specific recommendations for the legislature.

The urban mayors have their wishlist ready.

The N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition released a list today with $2.8 billion in infrastructure projects they said could be started immediately.

The list includes new buses for the city of Raleigh, fire stations in Greensboro and Cary, light rail enhancements in Charlotte, a public library renovation in Chapel Hill, and repairs to sidewalks, water and sewer lines and parks around the state.

The group said it hopes to persuade the state and federal government to direct some of a planned economic stimulus package to local government.

"Our goal in releasing this list is not to advocate for individual projects, but to show cities' ability to deploy the stimulus money quickly on important local infrastructure projects," said Rocky Mount Mayor David Combs, co-chair of the coalition's economic development committee.

The nonpartisan coalition was founded in 2001 and represents the state's 26 largest cities.

Update: The list does not include a request for $20 million in Community Development Block Grants for a "minor league baseball museum" in Durham that was included in a wishlist from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

That project and others have been criticized as pork by some critics.

Correction: The group recently changed its name from the N.C. Metropolitan Coalition. 

Another New York Times columnist is headlining the Emerging Issues Forum.

After last year's turn by Thomas Friedman, the annual Raleigh event this spring will feature conservative commentator David Brooks.

The theme this year is "Changing Landscapes: Building the Good Growth State?" 

"We are thrilled to have David Brooks speak to us about our infrastructure imperative," said former Gov. Jim Hunt. "We anticipate his creative, national perspective will inspire our state's leaders." 

Brooks will talk about how plans for infrastructure investment can be updated to keep pace with changes in the economy and technology.

He has recently gained attention for cautioning against seeing infrastrucutre spending as a solution for economic problems, saying too much spending on repairing existing infrastructure could hurt urban and suburban innovation and slow momentum for a transportation revolution. 

The forum will be held Feb. 9-10.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will push for the federal government to build new schools and expand rural Internet access.

As a newly appointed member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Lillington Democrat will be in a key position to influence new infrastructure spending in Congress.

A former state schools superintendent, he argued that the federal government should spend more building schools, a task typically left to state and local government.

"I think you will see that as part of a broader package hopefully we will bring out early next year," he told Dome. "Number one, to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure from schools to roads to bridges to highways to water and sewer, but more importantly to put people back to work."

He also said he would push to extend fiber optic cable in rural America to boost Internet access.

"That really is the highway of the 21st century," he said. "Unless you have access to that highway in rural America, you really aren't able to get on the Interstate. It is critical that we (expand fiber optic cable) all across America. We did it in the '20s and '30s for telephones and rural electrification. I think the time has come now when we need to do the same thing for high-speed Internet."

Etheridge said he envisions public-private partnerships, but he did not yet have an opinion on what role the government should then play in providing Internet services.

Listen to a podcast with Etheridge here.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue pressed President-elect Barack Obama for federal help yesterday.

Attending a get-together of Democratic governors the night before a meeting today on the economy in Philadelphia, Perdue had several chances to talk with the newly elected president.

She said she was intrigued by his definition of infrastructure spending, which would include not just roads and water and sewer projects, but also public schools, universities, broadband Internet access in rural areas and better medical technology.

"He sees the social and infrastructure agenda as woven together," she said.

Perdue was one of 29 Democratic governors at the informal get-together, which was held at the Independence Visitor Center. As Obama worked the room, she had three or four chances to chat with him, and not all of the talk was work-related.

The two also compared notes on looking for dogs. Obama publicly promised his daughters a new dog after the election, while Perdue and her husband are considering a third dog.

This morning, Louisina Gov. Bobby Jindal said his kids were now pushing for a puppy.

"(Obama) says he's caused trouble all over the country," she said.

Related: Perdue, Easley attend economic summit.