Senate and House leadership are tightening the parameters of what will replace the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that's set to expire in September.
"We're still working on a number," said Rep. Sam Graves, R- Mo., who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
"We're trying to come up with that with the administration and obviously the Senate. I think it's probably going to fall somewhere in the $550 billion mark, but this is going to be a traditional surface transportation bill."
The comments came on Wednesday during a conference hosted the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials who have a vested interest in infrastructure spending.
The $550 billion number mirrors the same amount that was attributed to "new" transportation investments in the BIL which included improvements in water, energy, and power infrastructure.
Graves has been more than clear about the direction on the coming bill.
"We're going to be pouring concrete, laying asphalt, building bridges. We're not going to be buying artwork for train stations and things like that."
The chairman also indicated the bill will start moving in spring and there will be a "robust transit component to it and a rail title as well."
Several transportation factions are competing for slices of various modal pies. There's also an ongoing tug of war between competitive federal grants that typically requires local matching funds and formula funding, which pits state officials against local municipalities.
Matching funds can be raised by issuing bonds.
"I want to see more formula funding going to the states, and I want to give states the autonomy to be able to do what they do," said Graves.
"Competitive grants aren't competitive. It depends on the administration, and it doesn't matter if you're a Republican or Democrat administration, we see that money flowing to those priorities that they may have."
Getting the bill across the finish line by Sept. 30 requires a joint effort between T&I and input from four Senate Committees, with the bulk of the policy work handled by the Committee on the Environment and Public Works.
Formula funding is propped by fuel taxes that have decreased due to the proliferation of hybrid and electric vehicles. The math adds up to an insolvent Highway Trust Fund.
"A lot of the questions are, what are we going to do with the Highway Trust Fund?" said Sen. Shelley Morre Capito, R-W.Va., who chairs the EPW Committee.
"How we're going to meet the shortfall? The basic answer for me is, I don't really know. I would expect that we're going to do something with electric vehicle usage."
"But that is nowhere going to close the gap of funding that we're going to have. We know we're not going to raise the gas tax. That's the easiest and simplest way to do it, but politically, it is a pitfall."
Minority leadership on the Senate side is also railing about the White House interfering with transportation funding that's already been approved by Congress.
"There is not a partisan problem on this bill in the Senate," said EPW Ranking Member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
"There is a problem between the legislative and the executive branch. We're seeing this administration refuse to faithfully execute laws and instead pick winners and losers based on things that really don't have anything to do with the underlying responsibility to faithfully execute the laws. We are seeing significant sums being held up."
