AASHTO Journal, 15 May 2015
The leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said they will mark up their portions of a six-year Highway Trust Fund reauthorization bill in June, making EPW the first of any congressional committee to begin formally drafting a long-term surface transportation measure.
Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., and ranking member Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said they were making the announcement now, even before Congress acts to extend the trust fund’s authority past its May 31 deadline, in order to signal that lawmakers will maintain the federal highway and transit programs.
“We are quickly approaching a critical deadline for federal investment in our nation’s roads and bridges,” they said in a statement announcing their bill markup plans. Without congressional action by May 31, they noted, “vital projects across the nation will come to a grinding halt.
“This is unacceptable, and we owe it to our nation’s economy to send a strong signal that Congress is going to maintain the backbone of America’s commerce and national security,” Inhofe and Boxer said.
“While Congress continues to debate the funding mechanisms, we believe it is in the best interest that this committee moves forward with consideration of a long-term surface transportation reauthorization bill. This is why we are announcing that the EPW committee intends to mark up a six-year, bipartisan reauthorization bill in June. We can no longer wait on Congress.”
EPW has the biggest piece of the legislation on the Senate side through its jurisdiction over the highway programs, but other committees will also need to act. The Commerce Committee writes the highway safety portion, while Banking has responsibility for the transit program. Once an authorization bill is complete in the Senate, it needs the funding to be covered by the Finance Committee.
In the House, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee writes the entire authorization measure, while Ways and Means is tasked with finding the revenue.
Inhofe has previously said the EPW leadership had nearly completed work on a draft of what would be either a five- or six-year bill, with its final length depending on how much revenue congressional leaders could agree on. In this latest statement, the two committee leaders indicated that talks are still ongoing among EPW members.
“We look forward to finalizing negotiations,” they said, with the “big four” EPW group that is Inhofe and Boxer, plus leaders of the subcommittee with jurisdiction. That panel is chaired by David Vitter, R-La., while Boxer is also its ranking Democrat and Tom Carper, D-Del., is the next most senior minority member and its former chairman.
Inhofe and Boxer also said they will be “working with our members on a consensus bill in the tradition of this committee.”