Congress Gives Swift Approval to Transportation Funding Extension

With action apparently stalled on President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, members of both the House of Representatives and Senate have overwhelmingly voted to approve funding for current highway and transit construction projects.

Unlike the infrastructure legislation, which has sparked spirited debates and maneuvering among lawmakers of both parties, the funding extension measure was passed with relatively little debate.

The extension has a calendar of only 30 days.

Lawmakers said they acted promptly to extend funding because to do otherwise might suddenly stop a wide range of construction projects already underway or in the planning stage.

As it is, because of the last-minute nature of the legislation, federal money for various state surface transportation efforts will be interrupted in some cases for at least two weeks.

“We need to act now to avoid further ramifications for surface transportation programs,” Peter DeFazio, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman, said in a statement.

The House action extends the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, originally approved in 2015.

That $305 billion legislation, popularly known as the FAST Act, provides funding for transportation and transit line projects, working with transportation departments on the state level across the country.

Last October Congress approved a one-year extension to the FAST Act, transferring in the process nearly $14 billion to the High Way Trust Fund to support those transportation construction projects.

Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said that while his group appreciated the quick work on the FAST Act, “short-term extensions are not a suitable way to govern.”

Speaking with the Washington Post, Tymon added that “this particular extension doesn’t include any new funding for state departments of transportation until October 15, leaving them without support from their federal partners for weeks while they continue the work of moving people and goods through our communities.”

​By Garry Boulard

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