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Two of California's leading infrastructure investment advocacy groups, along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, are calling on Congress to pass an economic stimulus package that would provide funding for local infrastructure projects.

In the meantime, California lawmakers, and state and local transportation leaders must take immediate steps to demonstrate the state's ability to put federal funds to use when they become available, according to the California Alliance for Jobs and Transportation California.

"There is little argument that California has tens of billions of dollars worth of transportation infrastructure needs, but the real challenge will be identifying projects that can be made ready to break ground within the next four or five months and working together to clear obstacles that would prevent that from happening," said Jim Earp, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, in a prepared statement.

State leaders must be prepared to finalize a list of construction-ready projects, and the state legislature must be ready to pass an appropriation bill to ensure it can meet federal matching requirements for the projects, the coalitions said.