Legislation to extend the federal highway and transit programs and the programs of the Federal Aviation Administration has passed the House and Senate. HR 2887, which would extend the SAFETEA-LU authorization for six months until March 31, 2012, and the FAA authorization for four and a half months until Jan. 31, 2012, was approved Tuesday by the House. The bill would authorize funding at current levels and allow collection of the federal motor fuels tax and the airline ticket tax to continue.
When the bill came to the Senate, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) objected to the legislation being brought under a unanimous consent motion. Sen. Coburn was seeking to amend the bill to eliminate the mandatory 10 percent set-aside of Surface Transportation Program (STP) highway formula funding for "transportation enhancements." The enhancement funding has been largely used to fund bike trails, pedestrian facilities, bus shelters, transportation museums and other similar projects. In addition, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) sought to cut the funding levels for highways, transit and aviation.
For more information, please contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.
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