Energy and Environment Daily: Congress Faces Deadline [Today, September 30th] For Highway Extension

Congress Faces Deadline [Today, September 30th] For Highway Extension
September 29, 2009
Energy And Environment Daily

A deadline tomorrow looms for House and Senate leaders to strike a deal over how long to extend the current highway and transit law.

The two chambers began feuding over the extension's duration this summer, after it became clear that a crowded congressional schedule and uncertainty over how to finance the nation's road and rail work would prevent lawmakers from passing a full, multiyear transportation bill before the current law expires tomorrow.

The House last week cleared a three-month extension of the highway law, a move designed to keep pressure on lawmakers to pass Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar's (D-Minn.) six-year, $500 billion transportation bill by the end of the year (E&E Daily, Sept. 24).

The Senate, meanwhile, is pushing an 18-month extension of the current law to buy lawmakers more time to figure out how they will pay for what is likely to be a substantial increase in federal investment. The Senate plan calls for a multibillion-dollar transfer to fund the federal share of road and rail work through March 2011.

Despite the House's actions last week, Senate leaders have given little indication they are ready to sign on to the three-month plan.

Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she remained intent on moving forward with her 18-month fix. "That's our plan, that's what we're hoping for," she told reporters.

A spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) yesterday confirmed the leadership's preference for Boxer's bill, which is backed by President Obama, but added that Reid is "open to the best way to get that done."

Getting Oberstar and other House leaders to sign off on the larger extension by tomorrow would be a heavy lift for Boxer and Reid. Still, even if senators agree to the three-month extension, there is nothing to prevent the chamber from renewing its 18-month effort down the road -- most likely later this year as the three-month extension draws to a close.

A similar standoff this summer between the two chambers ended with a small, albeit temporary, victory for Oberstar.

The House passed a $7 billion transfer to the Highway Trust Fund shortly before leaving for August recess. The transfer served two purposes: The first was to prevent the account from running dry while lawmakers were home for the recess; the second was to block Senate efforts to pass a larger transfer coupled with an 18-month extension of the highway law. With the House gone and the clock ticking, the Senate temporarily abandoned its 18-month plan and instead quickly passed the House's $7 billion fix (E&E Daily, July 31).

Moving forward, however, the political landscape is likely to prove more difficult for Oberstar since he is no longer guaranteed the overwhelming support of House Republicans that he enjoyed this summer. The House cleared the $7 billion transfer, 363-68, but last week's extension drew heavy criticism from GOP leaders, many of whom claimed Oberstar would use the three months to rally support for a gas tax hike to pay for his bill.

Republicans were split on the extension vote, with 86 supporting Oberstar's three-month bill and 85 opposing it, including longtime Oberstar allies, T&I Committee ranking member John Mica of Florida and Surface Transportation Subcommittee ranking member John Duncan of Tennessee.