Once again, Congress has bought itself more time to finish work on a long-term transportation bill. With Congressional approval and President’s signature late last week, a two-week extension will keep federal highway and transit dollars flowing to states through December 4.
Both the House and Senate have passed separate versions of a bill that would set transportation policy for the next six years. The bills are similar, but more time is needed to reconcile the differences and agree on how to pay for transportation programs – the stickiest issue to be addressed.
The Senate bill is a six-year bill with only three years of funding identified. The House bill is also a six-year bill. It also has three years of funding, but as a result of a late amendment, may actually have six years of funding. This is a significant issue that the conference committee – which includes Rep. Candice Miller – is checking into.
The two-week extension keeps the pressure on for them to resolve their differences and pass a long-term bill with more money. Either the proposed House or Senate version would have more funding than the existing bill does. Congress has not passed a transportation funding bill that lasts longer than two years since 2005 – 10 years ago!
Transportation agencies and local units of government have been living with short-term bills and month-to-month extensions over this period. It is difficult to develop multi-year construction schedules without multi-year funding programs in place. Agencies tend to postpone large projects that can span over multiple construction seasons when multi-year funding programs are not in place. They will focus on shorter-term projects that can be completed in a year.
An approved six-year federal transportation bill, coupled with the recently approved state funding package, will provide certainty and some increased funding for the next six years – enough time for road and transit agencies to begin to do some long-term prioritizing. It is long overdue.
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