Senate Paves Way for Ex-Im Reauthorization in Highway Bill; Final Passage Likely This Week

Senators reported to work on a rare Sunday session to agree to allow consideration of the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank as part of the chamber’s consideration of a six-year highway policy measure.

By a vote of 67-26, the Senate on July 26 approved limiting debate on the Ex-Im amendment offered by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) that would authorize the bank’s charter for four years. Kirk’s proposal is seen as a way from Republican leaders to win backing from a bloc of members in order to pass the bill and send it to the House before the Highway Trust Fund's authority expires July 31.

Senate GOP leaders and the leaders of the transportation policy panels insist passage of the bill will occur.

“Unfortunately, since 2009, Congress has passed 33 short-term [transportation funding] patches," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works panel and the bill’s primary sponsor. "This has resulted in highway dollars being spent only on maintenance and basic tasks — like filling potholes. We have slowed building projects and stopped modernizing. Today, 54% of America’s major roads are rated poor or mediocre. One in four bridges require significant repair or are unable to keep up with current traffic. The 20,000 miles of our highways slow below the posted speed limits, that’s significant. Due to congestion, 5.5 billion hours and 3 billion gallons of gas were wasted in traffic in 2011. Without a long-term solution, these numbers will continue to skyrocket.” 

While the Senate will resume consideration of the highway bill July 27, if amendments on highway safety provisions or non-transportation matters reach the floor, they have the potential of stalling or derailing the bill. Even if the Senate sends the legislation to the House, Republican leaders in the lower chamber have not indicated they would be inclined to schedule a vote on the six-year bill before adjourning for several weeks on July 30. Two weeks ago, the House passed an $8 billion measure that would keep the Highway Trust Fund operating through Dec. 18.

The Senate bill, which would approve funding for highway programs for three years, contains several provisions deemed significant to a major sector of the trucking industry.

For instance, under the bill, federal trucking regulators would be required to commission the Transportation Research Board to prepare an analysis of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s scores to commercial motor carriers. During the study, those scores would have to be removed from the agency’s public website. The Obama administration defends the scores’ methodology. However, most carriers argue that they are flawed.