Two More Senate Committees Endorse 18-Month Transportation Authorization Extension
AASHTO Journal
July 24, 2009
A proposal to extend federal surface transportation programs from their current Sept. 30 expiration date to March 2011 received approval from two additional Senate committees this week, moving the bill to the Senate Finance Committee for funding.
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved by voice vote Tuesday its portion of the draft bill providing an 18-month extension for highway and vehicle safety programs. That vote followed last week's approval of an 18-month extension for federal-aid highway programs by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Senate jurisdiction for transportation authorization is divided into four committees. While EPW deals with road matters, CST handles safety issues, the banking committee is responsible for mass transit, and the Finance Committee approves revenue to fund all of these programs.
CST Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, D-WV, said the extra time given to several transportation safety programs is important to overall efforts to craft a new long-term authorization law. The House Transportation and Infrastructure is pushing a full six-year authorization while Senate panels have favored extending current programs and funding levels for 11/2 years, as requested by the Obama administration.
"This extension will allow the Obama administration and Congress the time necessary to develop a comprehensive 21st century surface transportation bill that meets our country's enormous transportation needs," Rockefeller said following the committee's vote. "We must continue building critical infrastructure like safe roads and bridges and fund federal safety programs aimed at reducing fatalities and improving safety on our highways."
The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee approved Thursday the transit part of the bill. Those provisions relate to programs under the jurisdiction of the Federal Transit Administration.
"Any extension of the status quo is clearly not what we want, but in order to keep transportation projects going, it is what we need to do now," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and a member of the BHUA Committee. "The idea of projects around the nation grinding to a halt at this time of such economic pain and uncertainty cannot be allowed to happen and this bill makes sure it doesn't."
Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus, D-MT, has proposed transferring $26.8 billion from the government's General Fund into the Highway Trust Fund to cover the cost of the 18-month extension.
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