House Panel Fields Queries on Highway Bill

Members of a key House panel began hearing proposals Tuesday from members of Congress about ways to fund a six-year highway reauthorization bill without exceeding Highway Trust Fund revenues that are mostly derived from federal gas and diesel taxes.

Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) has told his members that they need to “do more with less” in framing its debate on a six-year reauthorization bill for transportation programs.

After a series of extensions to the 2005 Highway Bill, current funding for federal highway, transit and highway safety programs expires on Sept. 30.

Discussion and testimony during Tuesday’s T&I subcommittee on highways and transit hearing tended to center on party lines.

Mica has said that because the cash balance in the highway account continues to fall steadily, Congress must keep its spending on highway programs in check. Current projections show that the cash balance in the highway account of the HTF will be depleted sometime in 2013, according to committee documents.