FAST act News Updates

Legislation that would modernize the country’s surface transportation operations, with attention to trucking policy, is expected to reach a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives next month.

The law governing the country’s transportation operations was extended for a year after President Donald Trump’s recent signing of a temporary funding measure that averts a shutdown of the federal government.

The extension of the law governing the country’s highway policies is before the Senate as part of legislation meant to avert a partial shutdown of federal agencies.

WASHINGTON — In a sweeping bipartisan vote that takes a government shutdown off the table, the House passed a temporary government-wide funding bill Sept. 22, shortly after President Donald Trump prevailed in a behind-the-scenes fight over his farm bailout.

Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Sam Graves (R-Mo.), leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives’ transportation policy panel, agree that an extension of the 2015 FAST Act would buy congressional policymakers time to update provisions to the highway bill. Here's your Capitol Agenda look at the week ahead for trucking on Capitol Hill.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the top transportation policy authorizers on Capitol Hill, have indicated support for extending the provisions in the 2015 FAST Act highway law for a 12-month duration.

Groups representing nearly every aspect of the country’s infrastructure networks recently called on congressional leaders to approve a yearlong extension of a soon-to-expire highway law.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced a competitive grant solicitation that makes nearly $5 million available as part of its University Transportation Centers program.

Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was defeated in a Democratic primary March 17. His term will end in January.

The next set of guidelines Congress approves for the country’s highway programs must improve roadways across rural corridors, Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer said during a Commerce Committee hearing Jan. 28.