Cloture is a procedural vote that cuts off debate and allows consideration of the legislation. Vote on final passage of the bill must occur within the next 30 hours. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to schedule the vote for March 17 at 9:30 am. The agreement allows the Senate to resume debate on the FAA reauthorization measure which began last week. The final bill includes the following provisions of importance to the highway construction industry:
• Extends highway program authorization through December 31, 2010 at current funding levels;
• Provides additional revenue to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the first quarter of 2011 by restoring $19.5 billion in interest payments foregone on the HTF’s previous cash balances;
• Restores highway spending authority that was cut on Sept. 30, 2009, due to an $8.7 billion budget rescission in SAFETEA-LU;
• Authorizes payment of interest on future HTF balances;
• Alters the way in which long-standing fuel-tax exemptions provided to state and local governments are accounted for which are projected to increase HTF balances by about $1.7 billion annually, for a total of $9.8 billion over six years;
• Extends authority for Build America Bonds which have been used extensively by state and local governments to fund infrastructure projects, including highway and bridge projects; and
• Extends section 179 expensing thresholds so that taxpayers may elect to write off up to $250,000 of certain capital expenditures in 2010 in lieu of depreciating those costs over time.
