The Senate this week will try to pass a five-year highway funding bill, and end a years-long struggle to find a way to pay for the huge bill.
But the struggle may not be over yet, and the chips may be stacked against Congress passing much more than a short-term patch of a few months. That’s an answer lawmakers have turned to dozens of times despite complaints that it hinders longterm highway infrastructure project planning and repairs.
Members of Congress have until July 31 to reach an agreement, and so far, the two parties have not agreed on a path forward.
And even a short-term patch has suddenly become more complicated. Republican Senate leaders have promised Democrats they would allow the highway legislation to include an unrelated amendment that would extend the Export-Import Bank. It’s a move that has angered conservative lawmakers in the House and Senate, who vow to block it.
Last week, top Senate Republicans and Democrats huddled privately to discuss ways to fund a multi-year bill, but the meeting ended without an accord.
Democrats said they didn’t like the GOP’s proposal to fund the bill in part by extracting $32 billion from the federal pension system by changing the rate of interest on a particular retirement fund.
Democrats say the proposal threatens federal workers. They favor paying for highway funding by making reforms to international tax law and using the additional revenue to cover some of the cost of the highway bill.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he is “skeptical” of the tax revenue plan, even though a top Republican, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is a sponsor.
Last week before the Senate adjourned, lawmakers set up a Tuesday vote to advance some kind of highway bill. But the size and cost of the bill remain a mystery.
Several Senate committees are writing the legislation, and Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is in charge of finding the money.
“There are a variety of offsets being considered for a multi-year highway bill,” a committee spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “However, until final details, including length of time and the exact offsets that will be used, are determined, we can’t assume specific amounts. Chairman Hatch is committed to working with his colleagues in the Senate to achieve a multi-year reauthorization plan.”
Any long-term highway authorization measure will be extremely costly — the federal government spends up to $50 billion annually on surface infrastructure projects. Part of the cost is covered by an 18.4 cent tax on each gallon of gas. But thanks to better vehicle mileage and rising road repair costs, the tax has become increasingly insufficient at funding the nation’s growing infrastructure needs.
As the Senate hunts for additional revenue for a long-term bill, they are facing increasing pressure to pass a short-term patch from their colleagues across the Capitol.
House lawmakers approved a five-month highway funding bill that won not only bipartisan approval from Democrats, but the endorsement of President Obama, who has promised to sign it.
House lawmakers said their $8 billion short-term bill will give Congress time to work on a multi-year plan, one that could incorporate the bipartisan proposal that would use revenue from the bipartisan international tax reform idea.
“We know we are not going to write that bill in the next two weeks,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said. “We know we need at least two or three months to write that bill.
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