House Passes 3 Month Highway Program Extension

By a vote of 335 to 85 the House today voted to support a three month extension of authorization for the highway and transit programs which expire on September 30, 2009. The vote became embroiled in partisan gamesmanship when the Republican leadership opposed the bill being considered under a parliamentary procedure that required a two-thirds majority for passage but did not allow for amendments. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee ranking republican John Mica (R-FL) said during the debate that the Republican leadership wanted the opportunity to offer an amendment to indicate opposition to increasing the federal gas tax as part of the reauthorization effort. On the final vote 87 republicans voted against the extension with no democrats voting in opposition.  House T&I Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) continues to champion the effort to enact a six year reauthorization measure with significantly increased funding. He favors limiting the length of an extension to three months so that Congress will continue to make progress on passage of a long term bill. The Obama Administration and key members of the Senate are pushing for an eighteen month extension to delay debate on the legislation and how to provide the necessary revenue until 2011. The Senate will consider its version of the extension later this week or early next week. AGC and our Transportation Construction Coalition and American for Transportation Mobility coalition partners mobilized in advance of the vote by contacting republican members seeking their support for the extension. AGC contacted House members and pointed out the need for the extension to ensure that there is no disruption in the program while work continues on a six year measure. AGC pointed out that unemployment in the construction industry is at 16.5 percent, double the overall unemployment rate and that a long term and significantly increased funding is needed to not only meet the nation's transportation needs but for contractors to make decisions about hiring and training employees and investing in new equipment.