Highway/Transit Funding Extension Left Unsettled

With SAFETEA-LU, the six-year transportation authorization legislation, expiring tomorrow, congressional action is necessary to keep the highway and transit programs operating. The House and Senate are taking different approaches to reauthorization of the programs and the likely short-term outcome is to provide a 30-day extension through the Continuing Resolution (CR). A CR is necessary because Congress has failed to pass any of the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bill necessary to keep government agencies operating beginning October 1. In the House, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) continues to press for enactment of a six-year reauthorization bill with significantly increased funding levels. 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 House approved a three-month extension of highway and transit program authorization to allow time to continue to work on the longer 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. Key members of the Senate support this position and legislation to extend authorization for eighteen months has been reported out of the appropriate committees. However, other pressing Senate business will keep the bill from being taken up at this time. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) indicated that she intends to continue drafting a multi-year bill during this extension. An amendment to limit the extension in the Senate to less than 18 months is expected. AGC continues to advocate the need for six-year reauthorization legislation with significantly increased revenues to address the nation's growing transportation infrastructure deficit, while working to ensure there is no disruption in program funding in the interim. For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.