The bill was approved 359 to 65 within the Home, & 83 to 16 within the Senate. Louisiana’s Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and David Vitter also voted for the bill. Now the president’s signature is the only thing standing in the way of the first long-term bill in a decade. Tom Carper, long a proponent of increased investment in transportation, was one of two Senate Democrats who voted Thursday against legislation to provide five years of financing for highways, bridges and transit. “After years of inaction, this Senate took bipartisan action to meaningfully improve our roads and infrastructure over the coming years”, McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We have long said that states, which are the primary implementers of the federal program, need a long-term federal commitment in order to plan for and invest in the kind of transportation projects the nation needs now and well into the future to support our quality of life and economic prosperity”, he added. The Transportation Department estimates the volume of freight traffic will increase 45 percent over the next 30 years. Unfortunately the bill fails to enable states to allow increased truck weights on federal interstates, after the defeat of an amendment offered by Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin that would have provided states the option to increase truck weight limits on federal interstates, the ASA said. For the full article click here
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