When hundreds of thousands of Americans are desperate to get back to work, Congress should not slash funding for transportation programs that are the most effective at producing jobs.

But that is just what House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., has outlined in his six-year transportation reauthorization proposal released earlier this month. The plan would cut more than one-third from highway and transit programs and completely eliminate active transportation programs such as walking and biking trails -- overall crippling the best job-producing transportation programs. Some predict 500,000 jobs would be lost nationwide under the plan. More than 7000 jobs lost right here in Minnesota.

While our country needs to get its debt and deficit spending under control, not all cuts are created equal.

First, our national interstate highway system has hit its midlife crisis and is in need of repairs and maintenance. According to the "Repair Priorities" report released by Smart Growth America and Taxpayers for Common Sense in June, more than half of state roads in the U.S. are rated as "fair" or "poor." And we Minnesotans shouldn't need too much reminding about the possible costs of bridges are "structurally deficient."

Here's the good news. For every $1 we spend on keeping roads and bridges in good repair, we avoid spending $6 to $14 to rebuild that road. More important, road repair and maintenance create more jobs than building new roads, making it a smart investment for the near-term and long term. By underfunding our road repair and maintenance, Mica's plan is pennywise and pound-foolish.