DALLAS — Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee members on Thursday unanimously approved a bill authorizing $242 billion of federal highway funding over the next six years.
The highway bill, S. 2322, is a bipartisan compromise that keeps funding at current levels plus inflation through fiscal 2020, said committee chairman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
"No one is thrilled with this," Boxer said after the voice vote. "We know we haven't solved everything but we know this is a strong signal: a six-year bill that is fiscally conservative."
Now the Senate Finance Committee must find billions of revenue to fund highway projects because the federal gasoline tax no longer generates enough money.
In addition, the Committee on Banking and Public Affairs will develop the transit portion of Senate's surface transportation infrastructure bill, and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will be responsible for safety programs.
Several senators on the panel said they would offer amendments when the highway bill hits the Senate floor, but did not want to alter the draft compromise bill developed by Boxer and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., the ranking Republican on the committee.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the committee's transportation and infrastructure subcommittee, said the bipartisan approach should be a model for the other committees working on their portions of transportation funding.
"This is particularly important for those of us who also serve on the Senate Finance Committee," he said. "We need to work in a similar bipartisan fashion to quickly come to agreement on a fiscally responsible way to fund these crucial investments in our nation's infrastructure."
The bill reauthorizes the current funding bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, which was approved in 2012 and expires on Sept. 30.
The six-year bill would provide a longer-term planning window for local and state transportation officials than did the two-year MAP-21, Boxer said.
"We need a long-term solution because a short-term solution only extends the uncertainty," she said. "Today's passage sends a powerful signal to our colleagues and to our nation that we are serious about addressing the looming funding crisis in the Highway Trust Fund."
The proposed legislation maintains funding formulas in MAP-21 and increases allocations to each state every year, Boxer said.
The committee-approved bill would fund the popular Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act's low-interest loan and credit enhancement at $1 billion per year through fiscal 2020. An amendment by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that was included in the bill would extend TIFIA eligibility to transit-oriented development projects but would not add to program funding.
The inability of the gasoline tax revenues to fund transportation projects over the next 10 years was highlighted in a May 14 letter from the Congressional Budget Office to Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Gasoline and other taxes dedicated to the fund should total $390 billion through fiscal 2024, CBO said, but keeping transportation spending at the fiscal 2014 level plus inflation would put outlays at about $557 billion.
Transfers from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund have totaled $58 billion since 2008 due to flat revenues from the gasoline tax, CBO said.
Peter Ruane, chief executive officer of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, said the group is pleased with funding for freight projects in the Senate bill but disappointed that there are no significant increases for infrastructure. He called on lawmakers to boost transportation spending by addressing the Highway Trust Fund's recurring revenue shortfall.
"As this process moves forward, Congress needs to be clear there is nothing fiscally responsible about investment levels that fail to improve the conditions of the nation's roads and bridges, or allow traffic congestion to get worse," Ruane said. "It is totally irresponsible to repeatedly march the Highway Trust Fund to the brink of insolvency."
