“This legislation will provide some stability for transportation departments in every state and allow DOTs to continue planning and constructing transportation projects through the summer construction season,” said Mica on the latest extension. “This extension of transportation programs will allow more time for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to develop a fiscally responsible, long-term reauthorization of transportation programs to create jobs and build our nation’s infrastructure.”
“With unemployment in the construction industry at an all-time high, it is imperative that we extend the surface transportation programs through the end of the fiscal year,” said Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan, Jr. (R-Tenn).
H.R. 662, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011, was introduced in the House by the Republican and Democrat leaders of the T&I Committee. The legislation freezes funding at FY 2010 levels for highway, transit and highway-safety programs. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, there was word that some Senators were going to prevent the extension from moving forward, but the measure passed without much difficulty.