"Hundreds of thousands of construction workers and state department of transportation employees from across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief today now that the Senate has approved the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act," said AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley. "We are delighted that Congress has passed this significant piece of legislation. It's a win for the economy and for the communities that will benefit from the transportation projects funded by this measure.” (A video statement from Horsley is available at www.transportation.org.)

The measure approved by the Senate 68-29 and sent to the president today would:

1. Extend surface transportation authorization until the end of this calendar year. The current extension of the 2005 surface transportation authorization law known as "SAFETEA-LU" is scheduled to expire March 28.
2. Deposit $19.5 billion into the Highway Trust Fund to reimburse the trust fund for interest payments not received since 1998. This will ensure the trust fund's solvency into next year. 
3. Restore in this fiscal year $8.7 billion in highway contract authority to the states that had been rescinded at the end of Fiscal Year 2009. 
4. Fund the federal highway program's contract authority for FY 2010 at $42 billion, up from $30 billion, returning the program to its FY 2009 funding level.
5. Provide $4.6 billion in additional federal subsidies for Build America Bonds, a program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bonds allow states and municipalities to finance infrastructure projects with an interest subsidy from the federal government. State and local governments have issued $78 billion worth of Build America Bonds during the program’s first year.
6. Allow the Highway Trust Fund in the future to collect interest on its deposits, as all other federal trust funds are authorized to do.
7. Restructure fuel-tax exemptions for government vehicles currently paid out of the Highway Trust Fund so future payments come out of the General Fund rather than the trust fund, increasing money available for highway and transit projects in future years.

Senators voted 61-30 on Monday evening to close debate on the bill, HR 2847, with the final vote occurring this morning. The House first passed the bill Dec. 16 with much greater funding including $37.3 billion in stimulus money for transportation projects. (see Dec. 18 AASHTO Journal story) The Senate stripped most of the funding out of the bill and approved the scaled-down measure Feb. 24. (see Feb. 26 AASHTO Journal story) The House passed the measure a second time March 4 after nearly doubling additional federal subsidies for Build America Bonds from $2.5 billion to $4.6 billion and making some other changes unrelated to transportation. (see March 5 AASHTO Journal story)

Prior to today, Congress had approved four short-term extensions of SAFETEA-LU, which expired Sept. 30, 2009. 

"For more than five months, state transportation departments have been in a difficult situation -- going month to month, unable to make long-term financial commitments for projects that create hundreds of thousands of American jobs with a purpose," Horsley said. "Now that we have this nine-month extension, states will have certainty for the remainder of this calendar year. This gives Congress ample time to complete the complex negotiations necessary to approve a full six-year authorization bill, which we strongly encourage the House and Senate to complete action on before year's end."

House Expected to Vote Today on Changes to HIRE Act, FAA Extension

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-MN, announced Tuesday that the House of Representatives is expected to vote today on a bill, HR 4853, to modify two provisions of the HIRE Act approved by the Senate this morning. Oberstar had objected to two formula provisions in the bill when the House considered Senate amendments March 4 but he agreed to support returning the measure to the Senate after receiving a letter from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, pledging to have the Senate consider Oberstar's modifications later.

Oberstar's bill, which the House could consider today under an expedited procedure known as suspension of the rules, would distribute the Fiscal Year 2010 funding for Projects of National and Regional Significance as well as the National Corridor Infrastructure Improvement programs among all states based on each state's share of FY 2009 highway apportioned funds. The current language in the HIRE Act would distribute these funds to only 29 states. Oberstar's bill would also distribute additional highway formula funds provided for FY 2010 among all 13 of the highway programs rather than among just six of the programs as the current HIRE Act language would require.

Finally, Oberstar's bill would extend the Federal Aviation Administration's authority for three months, from March 31 to July 3. The Senate this week is debating a longer-term FAA authorization measure, however that is not expected to be reconciled with the House version before the end of this month, requiring a 12th short-term extension for FAA. (see March 12 AASHTO Journal story)