House Passes Amended Senate “Jobs” Bill

In a week that saw the temporary shutdown of the Federal Highway Program and the president signing into law a 30-day extension of SAFETEA-LU, the House today passed by a vote of 217-201 an amended version of the Senate "jobs" bill, which among other things would extend SAFETEA-LU  through 2010 and provide a $19.5 billion transfer from the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund.  The other provisions in the Senate bill can be found here.  The House bill was amended to make it deficit-neutral and to address concerns of minority-owned business in order for Democratic leadership to have enough support to pass the bill. The fate of the bill, the year-long extension and the Highway Trust Fund transfer once again rests in the hands of the Senate, which passed their bill by a vote of 70-28 on February 24.  Due to the Senate schedule it is not clear when the amended House bill will be taken up for consideration by the Senate.  In the absence of a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill, AGC will once again work with Senate leadership to ensure passage of the long term extension and the Highway Trust Fund transfer in order to provide continuity in the programs and certainty for our members through the end of the year.