Sen. John Thune: 'I Hope That This Is the Last Patch’

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate committee that oversees trucking regulations said he hopes Congress advances a multiyear highway bill by the time a two-month funding extension for highway programs expires at the end of July. The measure is before the Senate this week.

“I just hope that this is the last patch,” Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) told Transport Topics on May 20. “I mean, I don’t think that there will be any objection in the Senate to moving a two-month extension. … the conversations I’ve had with Democrats, I don’t think they’re going to object to that. But I hope it paves the way for getting a multiyear bill.”

Senate floor managers have yet to say when they will consider the House-passed measure that would authorize funding for highway programs through July 31. Current authorization expires May 31, and there’s an expectation the Senate will take up the short-term patch this week. Thune indicated the measure could potentially be cleared for the White House without a debate on the floor.

The Obama administration this week noted its disappointment with the short-term patch while not threatening to veto it.

The chairman of the transportation policy panel in the Senate, Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma, announced he will schedule a markup hearing in June on a six-year transportation bill. Transportation stakeholders have been calling on Congress to pass such a long-term measure.

The Highway Trust Fund collects revenues from federal diesel and gasoline taxes to help states finance infrastructure projects. User fees are no longer sufficient to cover the fund’s obligations, and since 2008, Congress has kept the fund operable through transfers from the general fund.