U.S House passes short-term federal transportation funding extension; sets stage for Senate

Funding authority for the federal Highway Trust Fund is set to expire in just a few weeks.  With Congress at an impasse on most major policy initiatives due to partisan gridlock, there were worries that Congress wouldn't be able to pass either a short-term or a long-term solution before the elections in November. 

Missouri's delegation at the National Bike Summit visits every Missouri Congressional office

Now the House has passed a short-term fix, extending the funding authority until May 2015.  It looks like that will pave the way for the Senate to pass a fix as well, averting a shutdown of the billions of dollars of transportation funding that flows from the federal governments to state DOTs around the country.

For now, the impact on bicycle and pedestrian funding and projects is minimal.  A continuation of federal funding until May 2015 will extend all existing federal programs and policies without any change.

What's next: A heated controversy over the future of federal transportation funding

This is all a setup for what comes next, though: Just as Missouri's state transportation fuel tax hasn't been raised since the early 1990s, meaning that inflation has left the state DOT severely underfunded, the federal gas tax hasn't been raised since the early 1990s, either.

Some in Congress are shooting for a fuel tax increase, bringing the federal transportation funding system back to its former funding levels, and they are hoping for a vote on that effort during the Lame Duck Congress just after the November 2014 elections.

Others are planning a thoroughgoing attack on the current federal transportation funding system, and that group is hoping to tackle the entire issue starting next Summer, by which time they hope a Congress will be seated that will be more receptive to that dramatic tax-cutting approach to the federal transportation funding problem.

Either of those scenarios is likely to involve rapid, shifting attacks on federal bicycle and pedestrian funding and policies--situations that are bound to deeply involve the Missouri Congressional delegation, who are key players in any transportation issue that comes before Congress.

What happened today

Politico summed up what happened in the House today:

The House passed a 10-month patch that shores up the fund through May 2015 with $11 billion on a lopsided 367-55 vote. Nearly every member who spoke on the floor — both Democrat and Republican — said they preferred a long-term bill, but failing that, they didn’t want to see the trust fund run out of money.

[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid, meanwhile, is seeking to set up votes for three separate proposals: the House-passed bill, a Senate Finance Committee alternative that is similar to the House bill and a plan from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to extend current policy only through December in order to force Congress to act on a long-term bill in the lame-duck session.

Working for better transportation policy and funding at the local, state, and federal levels are important components of MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri, which envisions the creation of a world-class bicycle and pedestrian system in Missouri. We can't do that without funding and policies that support bicycling and walking!  Your ongoing membership and support help turn our Vision into reality.