Senior Reporter
House Passes Highway Bill, Sets Up Conference With Senate
Legislation that would reform a safety performance scoring program for motor carriers and set in motion efforts to expand the role young truckers may have in interstate commerce passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 5.
The bill passed the House, as amended, by a vote of 363-64. That vote set up a request for a meeting with the Senate so transportation leaders from both chambers may meet to produce a compromised highway bill. The House-passed $325 billion legislation authorizes transportation programs for six years.
The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate transportation panels anticipate sending the president compromised multiyear highway legislation before Thanksgiving. That would meet a Nov. 20 expiration of highway funding authority.
Overall, the House bill would require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to make “corrective actions” to the agency’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program that scores motor carriers for their safety. Before passing the vote, the House on Nov. 4 beat back an effort by Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) to keep CSA scores public while federal regulators review the program responsible for the scoring. Frankel’s amendment failed by a voice vote.
The House also rejected an effort by Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) seeking to remove a provision designed to pave the way for drivers younger than 21 to operate trucks across state lines. Lewis’ amendment failed on a 181-248 vote.
Like the Senate-passed highway bill, the legislation provides three years of backing for highway programs despite its six-year authorization.
The bill “provides strong reforms and policies to help us improve America’s transportation system, and now we can get to work on resolving the differences with the Senate bill and carry a final measure over the goal line,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the bill’s sponsor.
"We congratulate Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member [Peter] DeFazio for leading the passage of a long-term, bipartisan highway bill," said ATA President Bill Graves. "Now we urge House and Senate leaders to come together on a final bill that increases highway investment to send to President Obama this year."
Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, added: “The momentum is there, and we encourage both chambers to quickly proceed to conference negotiations so a bill can be sent to the president prior to Nov. 20.”
