On a voice vote Wednesday the Senate passed HR 6532, legislation transferring $8 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund. The transfer will 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 than on October 1. The House passed the bill Thursday by a vote of 376-29, and the President is expected to sign it expeditiously.
This action caps off several days of intense negotiations in which three Republican Senators 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 ongoing 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 contact with Congressional delegations on this legislation. Thank you for your help.
For more information, contact Karen Bachman at bachmank@agc.org or (202) 547-4733.
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