Shuster Pushes for Extension of MAP-21
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster said an extension of MAP-21 rather than a new long-term bill transportation bill is the best course of action this year, given the Highway Trust Fund crisis.
“There is an immediate need to address the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund and to extend the current surface transportation law in order to prevent a shutdown of transportation programs and projects across the country in the coming weeks,” Shuster (R-Pa.) said in a statement sent to Transport Topics today.
“An extension through May 2015 will provide these programs and projects stability through the critical summer construction season, and provide Congress additional time to work on a long-term bill that will improve the country’s economy and competiveness,” Shuster said.
The trust fund is expected to be insolvent in late July or August, meaning that if Congress does not provide a cash infusion, the states will not receive the federal reimbursements they counted on when they launched highway projects.
MAP-21, the existing transportation funding authorization, expires Sept. 30, meaning that without an extension the government will be unable to collect federal fuel taxes.
The Senate has introduced a new MAP-21 bill, but the House has not produced one.
To solve the trust fund crisis this summer, House Republican leadership has suggested ending Saturday postal service and directing the savings to the highway fund.
Democrats as well as some conservatives have criticized the idea as unworkable, and such a plan would still not produce enough money to make the trust fund solvent.
Shuster said in his statement that “a long-term surface transportation reauthorization bill continues to be one of my highest priorities.”
There has been increasing speculation in recent weeks that in this election year the House would not be able to produce a bill that could bridge divides within the Republican membership.
That was the case in 2011 and 2012 when the House failed to come up with a new reauthorization bill and was forced to accept the two-year Senate MAP-21 bill.
