EPW Panel Advances 6-Year Highway Bill to Full Senate
WASHINGTON — A Senate panel on June 24 easily approved a six-year highway policy bill, advancing the measure to the full Senate. Lawmakers would need to act quickly on the bill as federal funding authority for transportation programs expires at the end of July.
The "Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy" Act, amended to reflect technical changes, would increase funding levels from a 2012 transportation law at an average of 3% annually to come up with about $260 billion for highway and infrastructure programs. It passed the Environment and Public Works Committee by a vote of 20-0.
WEBCAST: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act
“In order to repair deficient bridges, eliminate waste and reduce congestion, Congress must act now and pass a long-term surface infrastructure solution,” EPW Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said. “Beyond solving existing problems, a long-term bill will pave the way for the next 50 years of American excellence in infrastructure.”
The bill also would allow states to designate certain public roads as critical rural freight corridors. It includes provisions intended to improve truck freight movement, would boost funding authority to maintain and repair bridges and allow the secretary of Transportation to establish and implement a toll credit marketplace pilot program.
The pilot, which would consist of not more than 10 states, would be used to identify whether a monetary value can be assigned to toll credits and to determine if the purchase of toll credits provides flexibility in dealing with funding issues.
"The DRIVE Act achieves many of the goals that we as civil engineers believe must be addressed in the next surface transportation reauthorization and accomplishes these goals in a bipartisan fashion," said Robert Stevens, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Meanwhile, other committees of jurisdiction have yet to announce when they intend to mark up portions of the bill, and Senate Republican leaders who manage the floor’s activities have yet to indicate when the bill would be called up.
Yet, EPW ranking Democrat, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, expressed optimism that Republican leaders in both chambers eventually would act on a multiyear highway measure. She told colleagues during the markup that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had told her he supported such a long-term plan.
“Overwhelming bipartisan support for this bill will serve as a signal that we are serious about getting this done, and I hope that the momentum created by our action here today will encourage the other committees in the House and Senate to move quickly to act,” Boxer said.
Still, tax policy leaders in the House, led by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), have stressed the strong likelihood that Congress will advance an extension of highway funding authority through the end of the year. Ryan’s Ways and Means panel has jurisdiction over the Highway Trust Fund, the account used to back many highway and transit projects. Its funding authority expires July 31.
