WASHINGTON — A bipartisan, six-year bill introduced in the House would hold transportation spending at current levels despite widespread calls to dramatically increase the money available to rehabilitate or replace aging highways, bridges and rail systems.
The Senate passed a similar bill in July that authorizes current transportation spending levels adjusted for inflation plus a bit extra, but provides funds only for the first three years.
The House bill, introduced Friday by Reps. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House transportation committee, and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the senior Democrat on the committee, also authorizes current spending levels plus inflation, but doesn’t add any extra money.
Taken together, the two bills suggest Congress is unlikely to do anything significant in the near future to tackle the nation’s growing transportation maintenance and modernization backlog.
