Senate to Continue Debate on Highway Bill

The Senate will continue debate this week on S. 1813, a two-year, $109 billion transportation authorization bill providing funding for our nation’s surface transportation system.

Every six years, the U.S. Congress reauthorizes legislation that determines the volume of spending, the recipients of that spending, and the revenue sources of that spending for the nation’s surface transportation system.  The current surface transportation plan, the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users” (SAFETEA-LU), had an expiration date of September 30, 2009.  Since Congress was unable to reach consensus on a new six year authorization, the current legislation has experienced a series of short-term extensions.  The current extension is scheduled to expire on March 31, 2012.     

The infrastructure projects and overall plan stipulated by SAFETEA-LU are primarily financed by an 18.4 cent tax per gallon of gasoline purchased and a 24.4 cent tax per gallon of diesel fuel.  This arrangement has proven to be unsustainable in adequately funding our nation’s surface transportation needs.  As a result, new funding mechanisms for the next surface transportation bill are being explored and debated.  

It is currently not clear how the House of Representatives will proceed on the surface transportation legislation after House leadership was forced to pull back on H.R. 7, a five-year authorization that generated criticism from both sides of the aisle.  For many Republicans, the $260 billion price tag was too high and not fully paid for via dedicated revenues.  Democrats opposed efforts to change the funding for mass transit from a dedicated revenue source to regular appropriations.  Democrats also oppose measures to help pay for the surface transportation plan via proceeds from oil drilling – including drilling in a portion of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.