Senate to try to pass six-month transportation extension

House, Senate at odds

Steve Hawley, Nov 02, 09.

The Senate is expected to take up a bill in early November to extend the current transportation bill (SAFETEA-LU) by six months, according to a Smart Growth America email.

The House, Senate, and Obama administration have been debating how best to address the new transportation bill, which has taken a back seat to healthcare reform and climate change legislation this year. SAFETEA-LU expired at the end of September, but it has been extended until December 18 by emergency stopgap legislation.

The Obama administration, supported by the Senate, has been urging an 18-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, but House leaders are pushing for a new bill as soon as possible. Smart Growth America states:

Response from House lawmakers overall [to the six-month extension] is mixed; a six-month extension is more likely to go through if Senate leaders guarantee to take up a larger transportation bill soon to prevent any additional extensions. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) is continuing his push to get a transportation authorization bill done this year, saying that he would not support any extension that would last into 2010.

The $500 billion transportation bill proposed by Oberstar in June would slightly increase the transit-to-highway spending ratio, as well as include $50 billion for high-speed rail, which has never been included in previous bills.