Senate and House Take Up Transportation Bills- Action Needed

Today the Senate began consideration of MAP-21, a two year surface transportation reauthorization bill. The first order of business was to approve a “motion to proceed” which passed by a vote of 85-11, demonstrating strong bipartisan support. The bill is now open for debate and amendment. It is anticipated that the bill will be on the floor for several days. Earlier this week the Senate Finance Committee approved a list of revenue enhancers to provide the $10.5 billion necessary to fund the legislation. A significant portion of the revenue comes from a transfer of $3 billion from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) fund to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) and directs future revenue from the gas tax currently going to the LUST fund to the HTF.  LUST is funded from one tenth of one cent of the federal gas and diesel tax. Other funds credited to the HTF include transfers of revenue from the gas guzzler tax and from future imported car tariffs. The legislation also adds another $2.618 billion in general fund transfers to the Highway Trust Fund which are offset by changes in the tax treatment of inherited IRAs and from other tax code changes. The latest projection by the Congressional Budget Office on Highway Trust Fund revenue and outlays lowered the amount of funds needed to maintain current funding levels as is called for in MAP-21. In the House, the committees of jurisdiction have completed work on their portions of H.R. 7, a five year surface transportation reauthorization bill. The House rules Committee is scheduled to take final action on the bill next Tuesday and the bill will be open for debate on Wednesday, Feb. 15. The Rules Committee is expected to approve an “open rule” which puts few limits on the number of amendments that can be offered. As many as 100 amendments are likely to be offered. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) intends to complete action on the bill by Friday, Feb. 17. There is no certainty that either of these bills will be approved. On-going contact with your Senators and Representatives is vital. AGC has letters on the Legislative Action Center that make it easy for you to contact your elected officials. Please contact them this week. An AGC action alert went out last night asking for contact with Senators on the Motion to Proceed. Almost 1000 emails were sent. AGC would like to thank all of you who reached out to your Senators. It is exactly the type of action that is needed to get this vital funding bill passed. If you haven’t already, please reach out to your members of Congress. For more information, please contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org or Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.