Congress Extends Highway Funding Through September
The Senate passed a seven-month extension of federal funding of highway and surface transportation programs.
The extension for highway and related funding under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, or SAFETEA-LU, runs through Sept. 30.
The Senate’s approval Thursday followed the House’s approval of legislation to extend highway funding for the next seven months.
The proposal is nearly twice the $286.5 billion authorized by the previous SAFETEA-LU, which expired in 2009.
“Nothing is more critical to our members than highway safety,” American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said in a statement, expressing the group’s appreciation to Congress for the action.
“This legislation will ensure that funding for important safety and enforcement programs, not to mention needed highway improvements, will continue unabated through the end of the current fiscal year,” Graves said.
The bill must next be signed by President Obama, who has proposed a 48% increase in highway and infrastructure funding over six years, to $336 billion.
