HR 4915 includes the highway provisions to carry out a deal reached by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-MN, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV. Oberstar included these provisions to change the HIRE Act in the FAA extension bill because he objects to modifications to two highway funding formulas adopted by the Senate. In exchange for supporting the Senate version of the HIRE Act, Oberstar obtained a letter from Reid stating that the Senate would agree to modify the formulas in subsequent legislation.

Oberstar's highway provisions ran into opposition in the Senate this week, however, after anonymous senators objected to consideration of the bill, meaning that chamber was unable to call up the three-month FAA extension by unanimous consent. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, said she is not happy with the changes Oberstar wants to the highway funding formulas. Her state and three others -- California, Illinois, and Louisiana -- stand to gain extra money if the current formulas enacted in the HIRE Act remain law.

The Oberstar provisions 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 29 states that received such funds under the 2005 surface transportation reauthorization law known as "SAFETEA-LU," with most of the money going to only four states. Oberstar's language 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 law would require.