Senate extends transportation funding through Dec. 31

No reforms in 2010

Steve Hawley, Mar 18, 10.

The US Senate has extended the current transportation bill, known as SAFETEA-LU, until December 31, 2010, according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The House already passed the bill, so it will go to President Obama for his signature.

The bill also added $19.5 billion in reimbursement payments to the Highway Trust Fund to ensure its solvency through the end of the year. The Trust Fund, which is financed by the federal gas tax, has run short on money in recent years due to increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing levels of driving. The gas tax, which was last raised in 1993, is also not adjusted for inflation, meaning its buying power has declined over time. The Obama administration opposes a gas tax hike.

SAFETEA-LU originally expired at the end of September 2009, but Congress has authorized several short-term extensions until both houses can agree on a replacement bill. Some lawmakers and transportation advocates have been highly critical of SAFETEA-LU, particularly the fact that it allocates 80 percent of funds to highways and just 20 percent to transit projects.

US Representative James Oberstar of Minnesota, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, outlined a reformed transportation bill last summer that would have distributed 78 percent of its funding to highway and safety programs and 22 percent of its funding to transit and high-speed rail. The bill would have provided $450 billion over six years. However, with Congress distracted by healthcare reform, neither house acted on his proposal.

The Obama administration expects a new transportation bill to be passed in 2011. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised many elements of Oberstar’s bill but said that its overall price tag was too high. “That kind of money doesn’t currently exist,” he said.