Leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have released a bipartisan plan for increasing funding for highways, roads and bridges by 34% from the last federal authorization in 2015.
The $303.5 billion
The bill is expected to be part of a much broader surface transportation bill that the Biden administration is hoping to expand even further by covering broadband, housing and other areas.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, described the bill as “a vital foundation for President Biden’s American Jobs Plan.”
The surface transportation piece involves a reauthorization of the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.
Other pieces of the surface transportation bill include transit and rail that will be determined by other committees as well as a revenue portion that will be decided by the Senate Finance Committee.
The five-year FAST Act, as it is known, was given a one-year extension through Sept. 30 of this year when the Trump administration failed last year to deliver on its promise of major infrastructure legislation.
President Biden earlier this year proposed a $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan for infrastructure that the White House last week lowered to $1.7 trillion.
Senate Republicans have said it remains too costly and that Democrats are using too expansive a definition for infrastructure.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday "The ball is in Republicans’ court. We are eager to engage and even have them down here to the White House once we see that counter proposal.”
The top ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Workers Committee, Sen. Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia, described the agreement on the highways portion as evidence that a wider bipartisan deal remains possible.
“I have expressed my desire to work together across the aisle to develop a bipartisan solution to address our nation’s infrastructure challenges,” Capito said in a press statement Saturday. “Our bill unveiled today accomplishes this.”
Another positive sign came last month when the
The House Transportation and Infrastructure committee’s version of the Senate-passed bill is the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021. That bill would reauthorize the CWSRF at $40 billion over five years.
The House has not voted on its water bill, nor has the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released its proposed highway bill.
The Senate highway bill under consideration Wednesday proposes a national pilot program for a motor vehicle per-mile user fee.
The Transportation and Treasury Departments would enlist volunteers to track their motor vehicle miles traveled in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
The Treasury could vary the per-mile user fees by vehicle type and weight class.
