House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica announced today,
March 22, 2012, that he plans to introduce the ninth short term extension measure
for the federal Highway Trust Fund, rather than bringing the Senate’s two year
long term reauthorization measure to the House floor. Mica says his bill will
only authorize continued funding and motor fuel tax collections through June
30, 2012.
The two
year, $109 billion Senate legislation has been urged on House leadership by its
sponsor Barbara Boxer of California, by Senator Charles Schumer of New York,
and by Obama’s Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Schumer characterized the
repeated short term Congressional extension measures as “a very bad idea … it’s
a death of a thousand cuts.” The Senate
measure was passed by a bipartisan 74-22 vote, so it seems election year
gridlock and political party rhetoric remain more important to House
Republicans than leadership and policy solutions.
