House to shred five-year transpo bill in favor of an 18-month measure

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) has admitted to losing sleep over what has been a failed attempt at introducing a multiyear transportation bill. The House appears to have come up with a solution, but it might make industry officials a little restless.

House Republican leaders have drawn up an 18-month transportation bill, a stark contrast to the five-year, $260 billion multiyear package they were touting just a couple of weeks ago. According to Transportation Nation, the measure reauthorizes the Highway Trust Fund into mid-2013 and also provides dedicated funding for mass transit, which was left out of the original bill and led to mass criticism. The bill, which does not have a funding level yet, also will pull $40 billion from new cuts to federal worker pensions.

“They are going to try and jam it,” Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) said. “They went backward because that is what the conservatives said they wanted.”