GOP Votes to Change House Rules to Allow Cuts to Highway Funding

The House Republican Conference met Tuesday to consider a rules package that will govern how issues can be addressed in the 112th Congress. Among the proposed rules is a repeal of the guaranteed funding requirement for annual federal highway investment and the House point of order that enforces the guarantee. These guaranteed investment levels are established by the multi-year authorization. An amendment offered by Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) would have retained some of the guarantees of the program while giving the GOP a chance to cut funding if they can muster a majority of votes to do it on the House Floor. Unfortunately, the AGC-supported amendment failed. Many AGC members took the time to write Congress on this issue. We must remain committed to working with the full Congress on enacting a multi-year highway bill. The current extension of the program expires on March 4. As that date approaches AGC will again ask for additional grassroots support for extending the program at current funding levels. If you have any questions please contact Jeff Shoaf at shoafj@agc.org or (202) 547-3350, or Sean O’Neill at oneills@agc.org or ( 202) 547-8892.