Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
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The House is rolling out a bipartisan bill to spend up to $325 billion on transportation projects over the next six years as Congress scrambles to prevent an interruption in the nation's infrastructure spending at the end of the month.
The measure would spend $261 billion on highways, $55 billion on transit and approximately $9 billion on safety programs, but only if Congress can come up with a way to pay for the final three years, according to a bipartisan group of Transportation Committee aides.
The first three years of the infrastructure spending under the measure would be guaranteed, while the remaining three years would be authorized pending additional funding from congressional appropriators, according to the House aides.
The current transportation funding measure is scheduled to expire on Oct. 29. Congress has been struggling for years to come up with a way to pay for a long-term extension.
The traditional source for transportation funding is revenue that is collected by the federal gas tax, which is currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon. The gas tax brings about $34 billion per year, but the federal government typically spends about $50 billion annually on transportation projects.
Congress has turned to other areas of the federal budget to close the gap, and House aides said Friday that the chamber's Ways and Means Committee will have to identify a set of offsets for the new highway bill before it can move forward.
...The text and summary of the House transportation bill can be read here.
House unveils six-year, $325B highway bill
And here we go.
The measure would spend $261 billion on highways, $55 billion on transit and approximately $9 billion on safety programs, but only if Congress can come up with a way to pay for the final three years, according to a bipartisan group of Transportation Committee aides.
The first three years of the infrastructure spending under the measure would be guaranteed, while the remaining three years would be authorized pending additional funding from congressional appropriators, according to the House aides.
The current transportation funding measure is scheduled to expire on Oct. 29. Congress has been struggling for years to come up with a way to pay for a long-term extension.
The traditional source for transportation funding is revenue that is collected by the federal gas tax, which is currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon. The gas tax brings about $34 billion per year, but the federal government typically spends about $50 billion annually on transportation projects.
Congress has turned to other areas of the federal budget to close the gap, and House aides said Friday that the chamber's Ways and Means Committee will have to identify a set of offsets for the new highway bill before it can move forward.
...The text and summary of the House transportation bill can be read here.
House unveils six-year, $325B highway bill
And here we go.
