The current law, known as "SAFETEA-LU," expires Sept. 30, putting this issue high on the agenda when Congress returns the day after Labor Day. While Senate transportation leaders and the Obama administration favor an 18-month extension of the current program, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is pushing to complete action on a six-year bill in the range of $500 billion.

T&I Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-MN, has said he will take the bill reported out by the Highways and Transit Subcommittee to a full committee markup shortly after Congress reconvenes and to the House floor before the end of September.

Meanwhile, three Senate committees have marked up versions of the 18-month extension, which includes some $27 billion in revenue identified by the Senate Finance Committee that would be transferred from the U.S. Treasury's General Fund to reimburse the Highway Trust Fund for lost interest and emergency payments. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's bill would continue current funding levels with a small uptick for inflation.

With time running out on the current law, states face uncertainty as to how much federal aid they can count on. AASHTO President Allen Biehler, Pennsylvania transportation secretary, warned during a recent speech at a bridge rehabilitation project in Pittsburgh that a delay in federal funding could undo the benefits of economic recovery spending.

Biehler said Pennsylvania will spend some $2.8 billion on highway and bridge projects this year, with the aid of $1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. However, without a federal authorization bill, the program for the coming year will be cut in half, to only $1.4 billion.

Such a major reduction in transportation construction could have devastating effects on regional and local governments, as well as on the contracting industry, which has geared up for this year's program level.

"We've now got an industry that we are cranking up," Biehler said. "If we don't keep that pipeline full, what's going to happen on the back side? It's a real concern."

AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley said the association strongly supports enactment of a six-year bill with sufficient revenue to support needed investments. However, if that does not occur by Sept. 30, action will be needed to provide contract authority to keep the federal programs operating, and additional revenue for the Highway Trust Fund to support them.

If Congress fails to take any action in September, Horsley cautions, that would result in an 85 percent cutback in the federal-aid highway program going into Fiscal Year 2010.