On July 20, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies spending package.

The spending package honors the spending levels promised by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In addition, the bill provides supplemental funding for Senate priorities like resiliency, bridges, and earmarks. For more information you can view the summary, bill text, and report.You might recall that AGC previously reported on the House Transportation spending bill. The Senate bill does not include any cuts to transportation spending since they were not forced to live with a lower budget ceiling than the previous year, as was the case in the House. You might recall that AGC detailed these House spending caps that were included in the debt ceiling increase.

While the House legislation would prohibit the Federal Highway Administration from finalizing their proposed Greenhouse Gas rule, the Senate bill did not include this provision. The Senate bill would allow the state of West Virginia to issue special permits for overweight trucks hauling highway construction materials to operate on the Interstate highways in West Virginia.

So now what?

The House and Senate have now both passed their spending bills out of the Appropriations Committee. Next, they will need to be considered by the full House and Senate. Once both chambers have passed their respective bills, they will debate their legislation and try to reach a compromise. AGC is advocating for the highest funding levels and best policies in any compromise.