President Obama today signed the "jobs" legislation, which the Senate approved yesterday thanks to AGC's continued advocacy and an effective grassroots lobbying effort. The bill, known as the "HIRE Act," includes the following provisions of importance to the highway construction industry:
- Extends highway program authorization through December 31, 2010 at current funding levels.
- Provides additional revenue to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the first quarter of 2011 by restoring $19.5 billion in interest payments foregone on the HTF's previous cash balances.
- Restores $12 billion in highway spending authority that was cut on September 30, 2009 due to an $8.7 billion budget rescission in SAFETEA-LU and a subsequent rescission of $3.2 billion.
- Authorizes payment of interest on future HTF balances.
- Alters the way in which long-standing fuel tax exemptions provided to state and local governments are accounted for, which are projected to increase HTF balances by about $1.7 billion annually, for a total of $9.8 billion over six years.
- Provides $4.6 billion in additional authority for Build America Bonds which have been used extensively by state and local governments to fund infrastructure projects, including highway and bridge projects.
- Extends section 179 expensing thresholds so that taxpayers may elect to write-off up to $250,000 of certain capital expenditures in 2010 in lieu of depreciating those costs over time.