Highway bill gets some more mileage

Congress just bought itself a little more time to pass its next highway bill.

On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a measure that will extend the current surface transportation reauthorization bill until Dec. 11.

The current highway bill was set to expire on Sept. 30. The extension means that funding will remain in place for transportation programs through Dec. 11. Once that date arrives, Congress will need to either pass another extension or a long-term highway bill.

How we got here

In May, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the BUILD America 250 Act, a $580 billion highway bill package that addresses a variety of pro-trucker issues.

The bill would invest $750 million in truck parking, guarantee restroom access for truck drivers and ban predatory lease-purchase agreements in the trucking industry.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which proposed many of the bill’s provisions, supports the BUILD America 250 Act.

However, the bill hasn’t had any movement since it passed through committee in May.

Meanwhile, the Senate hasn’t introduced a bill of its own. So, the Senate voted in August to pass an extension. With the House now back from its August recess, the Senate bill was brought to the floor and passed with a 370-48 vote to avoid a shutdown.

What now?

The extension gives lawmakers more time to pass a five-year highway bill before the year is over, but significant obstacles remain.

Lawmakers will spend October campaigning for the November mid-term elections. Once the elections are completed, there will be limited time in the lame duck session for Congress to pass a long-term highway bill before Dec. 11. If Congress is unable to do so, it would likely pass another extension.

Unable to get a highway bill passed on time in September 2020, Congress passed a one-year extension. Lawmakers still weren’t able to get a deal done by September 2021, so they passed a one-month extension. In November 2021, Congress passed the $1 trillion Investment Infrastructure and Jobs Act.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is working to ensure that pro-trucker priorities are featured in the next highway bill.

“We appreciate Congress’ action to avert a harmful shutdown of highway programs and look forward to working with lawmakers on a long-term highway bill that addresses OOIDA’s priorities, including dedicated funding for truck parking, ensuring truckers have the right to restroom access while on the job and cracking down on predatory lease-to-own schemes,” said Bryce Mongeon, OOIDA’s director of legislative affairs.

Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., who is the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman and is retiring at the end of this session, said he remains committed to passing a long-term highway bill.

“The committee overwhelmingly approved the bipartisan BUILD America 250 Act on May 22, and I look forward to moving this bill through the legislative process and working with the Senate to complete a long-term bill that invests in America’s roads, bridges and other surface infrastructure, cuts red tape in the project process, and ensures that states have the certainty and flexibility to carry out the projects most critical to them,” Graves said. LL