This week, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) introduced a transportation bill that would reauthorize critical surface transportation programs and raise federal funding for highway infrastructure by 27 percent.  The bill would reauthorize spending for $287 million from the Highway Trust Fund that would be used for road and bridge maintenance, repair, and construction. 

The bill passed the Senate EPW Committee in a markup later in the week, but must also go through the Senate Finance and Commerce Committees before it receives a vote on the Senate Floor.  The bill includes $4.9 billion in funds over five years for programs that improve infrastructure resiliency to natural disasters such as wild fires and other extreme weather events.  For more information, a summary from the Senate EPW Committee can be accessed here.