House passed HR 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act

National News:

“Today, the House passed HR 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 by a vote of 367 Yeas to 55 Nays.  HR 5021 extends through May 31, 2015, expenditure authority for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), as well as, the authorization for MAP-21 programs.  The bill provides almost $11 billion dollars, transferred from the general fund and the LUST Fund, to pay for the extension.   Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, offered a motion to recommit the bill to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and change the duration of the extension to the end of December, in order to keep the pressure on Congress to do a long-term bill in lame duck session after the elections in November.  The motion to recommit the bill failed by a vote of 193 Yeas to 227 Nays and was not adopted.

The President issued a statement in support of HR 5021, but maintained his commitment to working with Congress to passing a long-term bill.

The Senate Finance Committee approved a bill that also provides roughly $11 billion to extend the expenditure authority of the HTF.  However, Senator Boxer, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, would prefer that MAP-21 programs expire mid-December to maintain pressure on Congress to pass a long-term surface transportation bill.  The EPW Committee reported a six-year bill early this year.

The Senate has several legislative options, now that the House has passed an extension.  It could simply pass the House bill and send it to the President, or it could take up the House bill and strike the language, and replace it with some version of a Senate bill and send it back to the House.  Given the strong vote in the House for HR 5021, there will be great pressure on the Senate to send the House bill to the President.  However, nothing is easy in the Senate, so stay tuned.”

~American Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations

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