
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s highway bill picks up on the reforms initiated by its predecessor, MAP-21, and proposes modest funding for a six-year program. The committee calls for current funding levels plus inflation, compared to the $302 billion, four-year program proposed by the Obama administration.
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The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will unveil its highway bill on Monday, May 12, and vote on it the following Thursday, the Committee announced. The bill will propose a six-year highway program that maintains current financing and credit support and adds a strategic freight element to the Department of Transportation’s portfolio.
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Could Congress save the Highway Trust Fund by getting rid of the federal fuel tax? Two members of the Senate Finance Committee expressed strong interest in how Virginia solved its infrastructure funding crisis by replacing its per-gallon tax with a wholesale levy on fuel.
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A national coalition of transportation companies formed three years ago to advance trucking fleet safety initiatives announced it supports major components within President Obama’s four-year $302 billion transportation plan released this week, however, there is one area in which it disagrees.
Read More →Remember the "fiscal cliff" and what a political fiasco that was? Well, a major political news and analysis website is predicting that dealing with the highway funding crisis in an election year is going to be just as bad.
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The Obama administration put down its marker for the next highway program with the GROW America Act, a $302 billion, four-year bill funded by a one-time infusion from a change in the corporate tax code. The House and Senate are working on their versions with no word yet on how they will pay for them, although the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing May 6: New Routes for Funding and Financing Highways and Transit.
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UPDATED -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Tuesday unveiled a long-term transportation bill he is sending to Congress for consideration as the House and Senate face looming deadlines to avoid the Highway Trust Fund running out of money this summer, but at least one part of it will likely draw controversy.
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Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., is a longtime supporter of raising federal fuel taxes to pay for highways and will float that idea with his colleagues as they draft the next highway bill. Carper sees a gradual fuel tax increase as a fiscally responsible approach to highway funding but is open to other ideas as well, according to his office.
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Anthony Foxx is on the road this week emphasizing the importance of infrastructure funding, with the Obama Administration concerned about the ability to pass a new long-term highway funding authorization before two key deadlines.
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Veteran transportation legislator Tom Petri, R-Wisc., will not run for reelection this fall. Rep. Petri is scheduled to make the announcement Monday afternoon at a town hall meeting in Neenah, Wisc.
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