| Mar. 3, 2010 -- The federal
surface transportation program got
a reprieve with a 30-day extension that will keep it on life support
through the end of March. The Associated General Contractors reported that by a vote of
78-19 the Senate last night approved legislation to
extend several gederal programs until Mar. 31, 2010, including Highway
Trust Fund spending authority that expired on Feb. 28, 2010. The
House previously had approved the bill and President Obama has signed
it. The bill has been on hold due to objections from Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) over budgetary considerations not related to the highway program. The stalemate caused the furlough of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) employees and prevented reimbursements to state DOTs for ongoing Federal-aid highway contracts. Some states postponed bid lettings because of the uncertainty over the funding and several direct FHWA projects were shut down. Furloughed workers have been told to report back to work today. Still pending is H.R. 2847, AGC said, the so-called jobs legislation, which would provide an extension of highway program authorization until Dec. 31, 2010, provide additional revenue to the HTF to keep it solvent through the first quarter of 2011, and remedy an $8.7 billion rescission of highway spending authority included in the SAFETEA-LU law. Other construction friendly provisions in the bill include an extension of Build America Bonds and accelerated equipment expensing.END |
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