White House Supports House Short-Term Highway Bill

The Obama administration indicated it supports passage of legislation that would authorize funding for highway programs through mid-December, a bill the House is considering July 15.

The administration’s backing for the short-term fix comes on the condition that House and Senate transportation leaders will get to finalize a long-term transportation authorizing measure this year.

“The administration expects that Congress will use this five-month extension to pass a multiyear bill with significant increases in investment to address the [transportation] system’s maintenance and repair deficit, enhance safety and lay the foundations for future growth in critical areas like freight movement,” the administration said in a statement the Office of Management and Budget released July 15.

The short-term patch, sponsored by GOP Reps. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, would approve $8 billion for the Highway Trust Fund. The fund’s authority expires July 31.

Over in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has laid procedural plans that would allow him to go forward with a highway bill on the chamber’s floor this week.

Across the industry, meanwhile, prominent transportation groups such as the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and American Trucking Associations are pressuring lawmakers to advance a multiyear bill.

"The House proposal reinforces the difficulty members of Congress face in finding a long-term and sustainable transportation funding mechanism,” said ARTBA’s president of communications, Matt Jeanneret. “Two things remain clear: the nation’s highway and transit funding problem isn’t going to solve itself, and the passage of more time isn’t going to make it any easier.”