An issue unrelated to transportation has prompted the House to declare the Senate highway bill (which has yet to win passage) dead on arrival.
The Senate bill, a six-year highway bill that actually only funds the first three years, would revive the expired Export-Import Bank. Because of that, reports The Hill, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Monday said the House will not vote on the Senate bill.
Instead, McCarthy says the Senate should take up the short-term House bill, yet another kick-the-can-down-the-road patch, this one for five months.
The Senate bill was a bipartisan effort led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
The Export-Import Bank is an 81-year-old institution that provides loan guarantees to help U.S. corporations sell goods overseas. Its charter expired on June 30. Conservatives say it's corporate welfare.
The House leaves for August recess on Thursday. McCarthy also said it's not fair for the Senate to send the House a 1,000-plus-page bill days before the July 31 funding deadline.
Boxer, however, said in response, "if we have a bill, we're sending it."
“You know what, we’re staying an extra week in August. You can stay an extra week in August," she said in a speech on the Senate floor, according to published reports. " That’s not such a terrible thing."
However, reports the Associated Press, McCarthy flatly told reporters, "We are set to depart on Thursday."
McConnell wants to get this legislation out of the way at least through next year's elections.
The Senate bill also contains a number of provisions affecting trucking beyond highways, such as allowing states to get together and create pilot programs to allow younger drivers to truck interstate, and addressing concerns with the Compliance, Safety, Accountability enforcement program.
Authority for federal highway aid payments to states will expire Friday at midnight if the highway program is not extended, as the balance in the Highway Trust Fund is projected to drop below the $4 billion minimum needed to keep money flowing to the states.
What fix Congress will find by the end of the week is unknown. One possibility is an even shorter-term extension than what the House passed.
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