Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and ranking member Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are proposing legislation to allot $10.8 billion for transportation projects through 2015, Reuters reported Thursday.David Lawder writes the plan is based partly on the “pension smoothing” funding mechanism used in a bill the House Ways and Means Committee passed recently to fund construction projects and partly on other revenue-raising measures.
According to the report, the proposed bill is expected to maintain the Highway Trust Fund in the short term, as the Transportation Department considers reducing the budget for such projects by Aug. 1 if no new funding bill is established.
The Highway Trust Fund originally used fuel tax revenues to fund highway construction and maintenance work, Lawder reports.
