House overwhelmingly backs 5-year transportation bill

California also is expected to receive $582.3 million in a new freight program over five years, $82.1 million to upgrade rail-highway grade crossings, and significant increases in funding for recreational and bike trails.

He said the FAST Act, however, was not the answer to solving the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. Dean Heller said in a statement.

The 1,300-page measure was "a mammoth task", said Sen.

"With a long-term highway and transportation bill we can rebuild our infrastructure, ease growing congestion, and improve traffic safety for Kentuckians. I'm proud to have contributed to and voted for this legislation, and I'm eager to see it pass in the Senate and sent to the President for his signature".

After a seemingly endless series of short-term funding patches, Congress passed a long-term transportation funding bill late Thursday that will give states the predictable funding stream they have always been calling for.

Unfortunately the bill fails to enable states to allow increased truck weights on federal interstates, after the defeat of an amendment offered by Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin that would have provided states the option to increase truck weight limits on federal interstates, the ASA said.

"One of the things we're thinking about, if we can get a couple of lines constructed at once and get them ready in time for the games, that would go a long way to making sure that (attendees) can get around more smoothly", he said.

The House voted 359 to 65 in favor of the bill, which authorizes $305 billion in spending on transportation projects over the next five years. The FAST Act will reauthorize the federal highway and public transportation programs for fiscal years (FY) 2016-2020 and stabilize the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) during that five-year period.

Rep. Bruce Westerman said Thursday's vote was "good for Arkansas and good for America".

Kentuckians for Better Transportation (KBT) - the Commonwealth's major transportation advocacy group - thanked Senator McConnell for his work in passing the legislation: "Congress passing the five-year FAST Act transportation funding bill is a major victory for Kentucky commuters and businesses that rely on our vital transportation network and it would not have happened without Senator McConnell's leadership".

Meanwhile the Missouri Legislature couldn't agree this year on how to increase state transportation funding, though most lawmakers believe it must be increased. But Congress didn't embark on a corporate tax overhaul, and the Republican majority blocked proposals to raise the gas tax. To cover the funding shortfall, the new legislation draws on several one-time revenue measures, including $53 billion in Federal Reserve surplus funds, $6.2 billion from the sale of part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, $5.2 billion from additional Customs and Border Protection fees and $2.4 billion in anticipated tax collections by using private collection agencies to supplement the Internal Revenue Service. It would also reauthorize the Export-Import bank, a government-chartered corporation that helps CT companies, including General Electric and United Technologies, sell their products overseas.

The bill would also change the rules for a federal transit grant program known as "small starts" - which has been used to fund LTD's high-speed EmX lines.