Sen. Barbara Boxer: Congress Will Get Three-Year Highway Bill Done
The top Democrat on the Senate’s transportation panel is predicting that Congress will approve a three-year highway bill, possibly as early as this fall.
Speaking Aug. 31 at the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she is optimistic House Republican leaders will stitch together a three-year transportation measure when they return to Capitol Hill from the August recess. The latest authorization of highway programs expires at the end of October.
“Believe me, that would be the first time in 10 years we’ve funded a multiyear bill,” Boxer said, adding that “it’s ridiculous, ridiculous that we haven’t solved the long-term problem of how to pay” for highway programs.
Before recessing for the August break, senators passed a six-year highway bill that propped up the federal Highway Trust Fund for three years. Boxer said she has spoken to her counterpart in the House, Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio (D), as well as Transportation committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), and they told her they would press ahead with a multiyear bill.
“They seemed very ready to go,” Boxer said.
Since 2009, Congress has approved 34 short-term highway funding extensions instead of opting for a multiyear highway bill. Many transportation groups and stakeholders insist the short-term fixes limit their ability to plan long term on infrastructure projects. States rely on federal assistance to finance new roads and bridges.
