Senate Unveils MAP-21 Reauthorization Bill as Administration Calls for Urgent Highway Funding
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leadership introduced on May 12 the MAP-21 Reauthorization Act (here), which would fund Federal-aid highway programs for six years at current funding plus inflation. The committee will mark up the legislation on May 15, according to a press release. Senate Finance Committee leadership recently emphasized the urgent need for funding legislation, but Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., criticized recommendations for corporate tax increases as a means to finance the Highway Trust Fund program (see 14050625).
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“The legislation builds on the success of the comprehensive reforms and performance-based approach to transportation investment in Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21),” said a May 12 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee press release. “It provides long-term funding, giving state and local governments the certainty and stability they need to improve and develop our nation's transportation infrastructure. These investments will create new jobs, provide a boost to our nation's economy, and keep us competitive in the global marketplace.”
The Obama administration sent a different version of the legislation, the GROW AMERICA Act, to lawmakers on Capitol Hill in recent days, said Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx during a May 12 press briefing. Foxx expressed tepid support for the Senate bill, while stressing that the Highway Trust Fund will hit insolvency as soon as August. “Our hope is, is that Congress will act as soon as possible, and we hope that happens before the Highway Trust Fund becomes insolvent,” said Foxx, alongside White House spokesman Jay Carney. “Beyond that, we continue to listen to Congress for clues as to when they want to take this up.” Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, recently listed the bill as a legislative priority (see 14031813).