The Senate passed a five-year, $305 billion surface transportation funding bill by an 83-16 vote the evening of December 3, hours after the House of Representatives approved the legislation 359-65. The bill now heads to President Barack Obama, who has already said he would sign the measure if it comes to his desk.
Advertisement
Today, the U.S. Senate passed the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act” or FAST Act. The bill, which is fully paid for, provides federal funding for roads, bridges, and transit programs that are critically important to Tennessee’s economy. More than $300 billion transportation bill has made it through Congress. All of that money will be spent on highway and transit projects across the country over the next five years.
“We’re happy to see the federal government recognize the need for extra funding for New York’s infrastructure, ” Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State, said in a statement. “AISI will continue to work with members of Congress to develop a long-term, permanent solution that will keep the fund sustainable and keep our roads and bridges structurally sound”, Gibson concluded.
“We applaud this bipartisan support for a transportation bill that marks another step toward increased freight rail safety, our industry’s top priority”, said Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers. Chuck Schumer, freshman Republican Rep. John Katko of the Syracuse area and Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan. While this bill includes some good transportation policies, the way we pay for these policies is unsustainable and irresponsible, offering little more than a grab bag of budget gimmicks that will actually increase our deficit in the long run.
The bill, which provides funding to build and upgrade the nation’s road and bridges, also reauthorizes the Export-Import bank. “The passing of the FAST Act means Mississippi’s current funding is guaranteed at approximately the same level for another five years”.
Like federal lawmakers, IN policymakers have been reluctant to raise the state’s 18 cents-a-gallon gas tax, which has lost 22 percent of its buying power since 2003.
The Wall Street Journal noted that even those glad about the passage of a bill will likely won’t be pleased with the idea of paying for it with funds from outside the transportation sector.
Among the bill’s losers are large banks, which would receive lower dividends from the Federal Reserve, with the savings used for transportation programs. But safety advocates won inclusion of a long-sought provision requiring rental vehicle agencies to fix recalled cars and trucks before renting them. Tucked into the bill were many provisions unrelated to transportation, from a restoration of crop insurance funds to changes in banking regulations.
Advertisement
-Provides $200 million to help commuter railroads install positive train control technology to prevent collisions and derailments.
