On Thursday, the House overwhelming voted in support (363-64) of their Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform (STRR) Act of 2015 (H.R. 3763), to provide approximately $325 billion in funding for a six-year transportation program.
The House considered more than 100 amendments on the floor, but ultimately few changes were made, and the measure now heads to Conference Committee with the Senate passed Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act. One of the few amendments adopted was introduced by Representative Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) to provide an additional $40 billion to offset the total cost of the bill, which is intended to replace a portion of funding identified in the DRIVE Act. The STRR Act includes increased funding for the Surface Transportation Program to support local transportation priorities, expands funding to local on-system bridges, streamlines the environmental review process, makes notable changes to address high risk rural roads, and establishes a new multimodal freight program, among others. The vote this week marks the end of a decade in which the House has failed to pass a long-term transportation bill. The House and Senate transportation measures will now head to Conference Committee where members of both chambers will be appointed to negotiate the final programmatic and funding provisions of the bill. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) selected Representative Jeff Denham, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi selected Representative Grace Napolitano (D-California) to serve on the Transportation Conference Committee, in addition to 26 other of their House colleagues. The Senate will announce their appointees in the coming days.
RCRC will work closely with our federal advocacy partners to secure key provisions of importance to California’s rural counties as part of the final negotiations between the House passed STRR Act and Senate passed DRIVE Act. The current surface transportation program, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) expires on November 20, 2015, so another short-term extension will be needed if a final bill has not been sent to the President by that date.