Transportation Reauthorization

Aerial view of freeway interchange in downtown Las Vegas

Restoring Solvency to the Highway Trust Fund

The Highway Trust Fund, the nation's source of road and bridge funding, went bankrupt in 2008 and has since relied on transfers from the General Fund to supplement fuel taxes. Republican Senators have proposed a new funding source: an EV fee.

October 15, 2023 - Transport Topics

North Dakota

Five-Year Transportation Bill Has a Ways to Go

House and Senate versions of the five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill are on different tracks, headed in different directions.

June 10, 2021 - Smart Cities Dive

President Donald Trump

Trump's State of the Union: More on Infrastructure in Democrats' Response

The president spoke briefly about infrastructure in his third State of the Union address last Tuesday, urging Congress to pass the bipartisan America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had a lot more to say.

February 10, 2020 - Transport Topics

Student activists with the Sunrise Movement occupy Nancy Pelosi's office

Democrats Reveal a $760 Billion Transportation Framework

Congressional Democrats hope transportation infrastructure can be a winning political point during a campaign year following the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

January 30, 2020 - The Hill

Road Construction

Climate Gets a Mention in First Committee's Approval of Federal Transportation Bill

A $287 billion, five-year transportation reauthorization made its way out of its first Senate committee this week.

August 1, 2019 - The Washington Post

Washington D.C. Street

U.S. Senate to Consider Five-Year Highway Bill Reauthorization

The first draft of the five-year reauthorization of the FAST Act would expand first-year spending by 17 percent.

July 29, 2019 - Transport Topics

Electric Car

Federal Lawmakers Target Electric Vehicles in Transportation Reauthorization

How will motorists who don't pay gas taxes fund road upkeep? That's one of the questions that the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee hopes to answer this summer as they work to reauthorize the FAST Act before it expires on Sept. 30, 2020.

July 15, 2019 - Route Fifty

Congressional Democrats

Pelosi-Schumer-Trump Infrastructure Plan Already Meeting Resistance

Introduced on April 30, the $2 trillion conceptual plan is likely to be dismissed by Congressional Republicans wary of increasing taxes and adding to the deficit, according to an extensive article by The Hill published three days later.

May 8, 2019 - The Hill

Federal Transportation Reauthorization Agreement Close at Hand

The Wall Street Journal reports that a deal is very near—maybe Monday—for a 6-year transportation reauthorization bill with funding for not three years, as both the House and Senate bills include, but five.

December 1, 2015 - The Wall Street Journal - Politics

The New Speaker's First Test: The Transportation Reauthorization Bill

Congress began work this week on a 6-year transportation bill, the first since SAFETEA-LU expired in 2009. Overseeing the process of adding amendments to the bill will be new House Speaker Paul D. Ryan in his first significant test of leadership.

November 4, 2015 - Roll Call

New House Transportation Reauthorization Bill Expected for Mark Up This Week

The current patch bill funding highway and transit spending expires on Oct. 29. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has released a multi-year bill called the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform Act of 2015 (STRR Act).

October 19, 2015 - The Hill

Congressional Republicans Agree to Three-Month Transportation Funding Patch

Overcoming their differences, Republican leaders in both chambers agreed Wednesday to a three-month patch bill to continue transportation spending through Oct. 29. The bill must pass by Friday due to lack of funds in the Highway Trust Fund.

July 29, 2015 - Wall Street Journal

What the Transportation Agenda of the Future Looks Like

All the talk about the Highway Trust Fund can make it seem like the U.S. transportation system. Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer argue that funding is only a symptom of the deeper problem.

July 27, 2015 - Politico

Senate Committee Will 'DRIVE' Transportation Reauthorization

The Senate's DRIVE Act is shaping up to be the first six-year transportation reauthorization bill since 2009. Notwithstanding the acronym, it's not all that bad, writes Tanya Snyder of Streetsblog USA. Finding funding for it is another story.

June 25, 2015 - National Journal

Transportation Reauthorization Showdown Likely on Capitol Hill

With the current two-month transportation patch set to expire July 31, Democrat leaders are hankering for a showdown to secure a six-year reauthorization bill. A confrontation may occur with Republicans who prefer another patch.

June 5, 2015 - Politico

Calling for National Investments in Transportation Infrastructure

President Obama visited the Tappan Zee Bridge earlier this week to argue for a renewed commitment to transportation infrastructure.

May 16, 2014 - WhiteHouse.gov

Wisconsin Struggles with Interstate Tolling Option

State transportation leaders are scrambling to increase funding as MAP-21 draws to its expiration on Oct. 1. Interstate tolling is being eyed by more than a few. While the Wisconsin Assembly likes the idea, Gov. Scott Walker rejects it.

March 10, 2014 - Stateline

Transportation Reauthorization Funding Mechanism May Be Settled

How best to "plug the growing hole" in the Highway Trust Fund which provides the federal revenue for roads and transit: increase the gas tax, new vehicle miles traveled fees, more road tolls, or "corporate tax reform"? All but one is a user fee.

March 6, 2014 - Politico Morning Transportation

Virginia Gas Tax Could be Model for Federal Transportation Tax

Could Virginia, the state that did away with its gasoline excise tax entirely, be the template for a new federal transportation funding system? By using multiple taxes and fees, they present an alternative to simply raising the federal gas tax.

October 23, 2013 - CQ Roll Call

'Bi-Partisan' Transportation Bill Now Law

President Obama signed the transportation bill known as MAP-21 on July 6 that also maintains low student loan rates, ending the three-year process of three-month extensions of SAFETEA-LU. He praised the bill as bipartisan and job-saving.

July 9, 2012 - The Hill's Transportation Blog

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