Senate Environment Panel Approves $287B Transportation Bill, 21-0

"The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has unanimously approved a five-year, $287-billion highway bill, an eagerly awaited initial piece of what would be a multi-part surface transportation package.

The measure, which the committee cleared on July 30 on a 21-0 vote, would amount to a 27% increase over current authorized funding, but because the committee’s jurisdiction doesn’t cover revenue, the bill doesn't address where the additional money would come from.

The bill’s authors — committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and the panel’s top Democrat, Tom Carper (Del.)—said the measure’s total dollars, from the Highway Trust Fund, would make it the largest highway bill ever and 27% more than the highway portion of the current five-year legislation, the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation, or FAST, Act."

Tom Ichniowski reports for the Engineering News-Record July 30, 2019.

SEE ALSO:

"5 Highway Bill Proposals You May Have Missed" (E&E Daily)

Source: ENR, 07/31/2019