The clock has already started to tick on efforts to reauthorize the federal-highway legislation. The country’s primary surface transportation policy law was last reauthorized in 2021 and it expires at the end of September. Transportation policymakers on Capitol Hill and in the Administration have pledged to update the law prior to its expiration.
Speaking at the Transportation Research Board annual meeting Jan. 12, Federal Highway Administration chief Sean McMaster said the nation consistently benefits from a transportation bill that promotes reliable funding for stakeholders. The new highway bill, he continued, also should look to enhance safety, modernize infrastructure systems, streamline federal projects and promote economic growth.
“We must ensure reliable, predictable funding by enacting a long-term, multiyear bill,” McMaster added. For emphasis, he said the legislation amounts to the “fundamental mechanism for providing the necessary funding and priorities” to upgrade transportation corridors.
Congressional transportation leaders said they will schedule consideration of the comprehensive highway measure as early as springtime. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure panel, and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, intend to use the legislation to further adopt emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and fund traditional infrastructure networks.
Sen. Capito indicated the highway legislation is likely to be debated in March or April. Capito recently emphasized the ongoing need to invest in modernizing surface transportation corridors while identifying a long-term funding fix for the nation’s highway system.
House Transportation Chairman Graves said he expects to schedule consideration of a bipartisan highway bill in a couple of months. Doing so would allow for the bill’s passage in the chamber before summer. Graves has detailed his “back to basics” vision for the upcoming legislation saying, “After recent years of expanding and creating more programs, spending money we don’t have and losing money to project approval inefficiencies, we can and must focus on our most fundamental infrastructure needs.”