Senate Passes Highway Trust Fund Fix

On a voice vote today the Senate today passed HR 6532, legislation transferring $8 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund to prevent a shortfall in available funds from slowing down Federal reimbursements to states for on-going federal-aid highway construction projects. The Senate amended the House bill to allow for the transfer to happen immediately rather then on October 1st. The House must now approve the amended bill which is expected to occur this week. The President is expected to sign the bill expeditiously. This action caps off several days of intense negotiations with three Republican Senators who were seeking to offer amendments to the bill and were also requesting a roll call vote on the measure. In an announcement last week Transportation Secretary Mary Peters reported on the dire situation in HTF revenue which, if not remedied, will result in a slow down and reduction in payments to state DOTs. At that time she called on Congress to pass HR 6532. Numerous state DOTs announced that, if the full federal funds were not forthcoming, that they would be forced to cancel contract lettings, slow down work on on-going projects and, in some cases, issue debt to make payments to contractors. AGC chapters and members responded to AGC of America's many pleas for contacts with Congressional delegations on this legislation. Thank you for your help.