Free Republic

The surface transportation construction industry has long had to rely on Washington for its prosperity. We spend most years holding our breath and hoping we will receive more Federal funding to fix our crumbling roads, bridges and highway systems. Currently in the United States, 7 percent of bridges are structurally deficient, and 19 percent of major highway pavements have deteriorated. Yet, our existing financing structure has few tools to address the looming reconstruction challenges facing existing infrastructure. In 2020, Congress passed a one-year extension of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. While the one-year extension of the FAST Act...

A cardinal rule of government ought to be: stop wasting money before demanding taxpayers hand over more. When it comes to the Highway Trust Fund and the gas tax, Congress has failed to learn this simple lesson. The federal highway program is set to expire a year from now, but lawmakers looking to fund their pet projects are eager to get started. So the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has already approved a bill that would authorize billions more in projects than the federal gas tax will bring in. The thing is though, they don’t know how to pay...

The federal government would get more bang for their buck if U.S. drivers were charged directly for their use of highways through tolls or mileage fees, a new study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says.The report from Congress's budgetary scorekeepers says current "spending on highways does not correspond very well with how the roads are used and valued." The CBO said mechanisms like tolling, mileage fees or congestion pricing could be considered to fund transportation projects in lieu of relying mostly on gas tax revenue."Almost all federal spending for highways occurs through formula grants to state and local governments,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of stymied efforts to address the nation's aging and congested highways and transit systems, Congress found the sweet spot for passage on Thursday — a 5-year, $305 billion bill laden with enough industry favors, parochial projects, safety improvements and union demands to gain overwhelming support. The bill was approved 359 to 65 in the House, and 83 to 16 in the Senate. The bill now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature.

Ex-Im Bank board still lacks a quorum to approve multimillion dollar, taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for big business WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) yesterday voted against the $281 billion, five-year highway bill that reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank, a quintessential example of cronyism and corporate welfare. Using various budget gimmicks and one-time revenue raisers, this bill guarantees an even larger shortfall in 2020 when the next highway bill comes up. Sen. Cruz issued the following statement upon the bill’s passage in the Senate:“Last night, sadly, the Washington Cartel reversed one of the few fiscal conservative victories achieved with this...

The U.S. House on Thursday passed a five-year transportation bill that also revive(s) the charter of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which had been allowed to expire in the face of conservative opposition. the House of Representatives voted 359 to 65. All 65 "no" votes came from Republicans, including lawmakers opposed to the EXIM bank measure. "It proves to the American people that we can get things done," said House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican.

Today, the House overwhelmingly passed the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act (STRR) to much fanfare.The six-year, $325-billion bill reauthorizes highway and transit funding from the federal Highway Trust Fund that was set to expire on November 20. The bill is being heralded as no less than a historic “long-term” measure, emerging after “ten years of short-term band-aids and extensions.”But make no mistake: Despite the bill’s name and the exhortations of its admirers, STRR is another status quo bailout, plain and simple.It follows in a long line of short-term bailouts that do nothing to fix the chronic overspending and misallocation...

Few things are as essential to economic growth and development as our nation’s roads. In a state as expansive as Arizona, riders understand the importance of having sound infrastructure, especially when it fails, as it did with the recent bridge collapse on I-10 in California not far from the Arizona border that continues to impact travelers across our state and region. Throughout history, providing for our nation’s infrastructure has been a central priority for both political parties. And, since President Dwight Eisenhower created the Interstate Highway System in 1956, our roads and bridges have served as the backbone to our...

President Obama signed a three-month highway bill Friday while chastising Congress for failing to approve long-term transportation funding and other legislative business before lawmakers’ summer vacation. “We can’t keep on funding transportation by the seat of our pants,” Mr. Obama told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s a bad way for the U.S. government to do business. I guarantee you that’s not how China, Germany and other countries around the world handle their infrastructure.”

WASHINGTON – Just days after publicly calling the majority leader a liar on the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has upped the stakes in his war on GOP brass by accusing Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., of spearheading the effort to keep taxpayer funds going to Planned Parenthood. In a statement that mentioned “gruesome videos of senior officials of Planned Parenthood discussing the selling of body parts of unborn children,” Cruz blasted McConnell for blocking an amendment by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to defund the abortion provider.

Later this week, the highway trust fund officially runs out of money unless Congress authorizes more funding for roads and bridges. But the bill that is being pushed by Democrats and some Republicans is starting to look like a Republican Party Dunkirk that could infuriate conservative voters and even wind up costing the GOP the 2016 election. The $320 billion six year public works funding bill would raise government spending, increase taxes on businesses and possibly provide a new lease on life for the corporate welfare queen -- the Export-Import Bank. This happens every time a highway bill comes up...

The House will not vote on a multi-year Senate highway bill that revives the now-expired Export-Import Bank, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Monday. “We’re not taking up the Senate bill,” McCarthy declared to a roomful of reporters in his office. Instead, McCarthy urged the Senate to take up a short-term House-passed bill which extends federal highway funding for five months, without renewing the Ex-Im Bank charter. He called the House bill the “best option” for Congress before money for highways, bridges and mass transit runs out on Friday. McCarthy’s declaration is a blow not only to the Senate,...

Next week, Senate Republicans could pass Obamacare repeal with a simple 51-vote majority as part of the long-term highway bill, according to Sen. Mike Lee. The Utah Republican laid out the argument in a press release after party leaders set the sequencing of votes: "The first Obamacare vote on Sunday will have a 60 vote threshold, and Democrats will likely block it," Lee continued. "But thanks to the sequencing of the votes we just locked in, Republicans will have the opportunity resurrect that Obamacare amendment later on in the process, and put it back before the Senate in a manner...

Senate Republican leaders will use a must-pass highway bill to start another fight over the president’s health care law. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to introduce an amendment to the transportation bill to fully repeal “Obamacare.” […] The Senate is rushing to complete the highway legislation before states face a cutoff of highway and transit aid one week from now. …

The House approved $8 billion in highway funding Wednesday to keep projects moving past a July 31 deadline and buy enough time to negotiate the long-term bill lawmakers really want. But the measure is now on a collision course with the Senate, where Republicans sketched out a more ambitious bill that would pump tens of billions of dollars in new funding in coming years. House GOP leaders said they would eventually like a six-year bill. But for now, they asked members to swallow hard and support a five-month extension through Dec. 18, saying negotiations on the bigger bill could take...

Just hours after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., helped sink President Obama's trade agenda, she indicated that more Democrats might be willing to support trade if Congress passed a long-term highway funding bill. "The overwhelming vote today is a clear indication that it's time for Republicans to sit down with Democrats to negotiate a trade promotion authority bill that is a better deal for the American people," Pelosi said in a statement. "The prospects for passage of a such a bill will greatly increase with the passage of a robust highway bill," she added. Democrats have been demanding a...

President Obama on Friday will sign a two-month extension of highway funding into law, the White House said. The measure prevents a sudden halt in infrastructure funding that was slated to begin May 31. But White House press secretary Josh Earnest criticized the stopgap bill as a punt and urged Congress to pass a long-term measure to fund road projects. “It’s the president’s view that the era of short-term patches ... must come to an end,” Earnest told reporters. Earnest noted it was the 33rd temporary fix for highway funding since 2008. The uncertainty caused by that approach has led...

WASHINGTON—Highway funding, tax reform and tire registration were the big issues tire dealers, repair shop owners and association officials discussed with Capitol Hill staffers during the Tire Industry Association’s Federal Lobby Day on Feb. 5. Approximately 55 representatives of the tire retailing and auto repair industries participated in the event, which began with speeches from current and former members of Congress and progressed to one-on-one meetings with key staff persons in the offices of several top Washington lawmakers. With the Highway Trust Fund set to run out of money in May, passage of a multi-year transportation funding bill was the...

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday threw his weight behind a temporary fix for the depleted Highway Trust Fund during an event to tout his administration's work with the private sector to develop cars that communicate using wireless technology. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives was poised on Tuesday to approve a $10 billion infusion for the fund, enough to keep money flowing to road, bridge and transit projects at least through the end of May 2015. :snip: Obama weighed in on the issue shortly after taking a wild ride in a car simulator at a highway research center in...

Not content with masterminding Obamacare, which taxes, regulates, and disincentivizes the healthcare industry into nothing more than a capitulatory utility under government control, Democrat Senator Max Baucus used the recently passed transportation bill as the vehicle to exterminate thousands of jobs with the stroke of Barack Obama’s pen. In addition to the $400 million the senator earmarked for his state’s highway system, the Montana senator mischievously added a separate and unrelated special interest earmark to the transportation bill as a nod to his Big Tobacco benefactors at Altria, a parent company of tobacco giant Philip Morris. How did he appease...