By Kevin McCarty
March 19, 2012

After successful Senate action on a bipartisan surface transportation renewal plan (S. 1813), Senator Barbara Boxer (CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), a key leader in the bipartisanship effort on the legislation, said, “It is a great day when the Senate, in an overwhelmingly bipartisan way, votes to save 1.8 million jobs and create up to 1 million more jobs.” The Senate voted 74-22 to approve the legislation on March 14.

“I call on the House of Representatives to take our bill, pass it, and send it to the President’s desk so that we can give a needed boost to our economic recovery and our aging infrastructure,” Boxer said.

Echoing the Chairman’s challenge to House Members, Conference of Mayrs President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa said, “The nation’s mayors are now calling on both parties in the House to put politics aside and pass a job-creating transportation bill that includes America Fast Forward.”

Villaraigosa praised the bipartisan cooperation that underpinned the Senate’s successful action on the $109 billion, two-year renewal plan, called “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” (MAP-21).

“The bipartisan effort to create jobs and speed expansion of our transportation systems took a major step forward today with Senate passage of a surface transportation bill that includes America Fast Forward,” he said. “Sen. Barbara Boxer and Sen. James Inhofe showed remarkable bipartisan leadership on this bill.”

As the Senate initiated floor debate on the measure, Villaraigosa joined with Boxer at a March 7 Capitol Hill press event, calling attention to the need for strong, bipartisan approval of the pending legislation. In her remarks, Boxer praised Villaraigosa for his work on America Fast Forward, which she noted promises to create one million new jobs. “His leadership has made a mark on this legislation,” she said.

In discussing this initiative and the work of the nation’s mayors, Villaraigosa said, “The city [Los Angeles] and the Conference of Mayors have gotten behind America Fast Forward.” Referencing the Conference of Mayors mayoral letter, he said, “One hundred and eighty-eight mayors have signed on the pending legislation.”

As Senators gave final approval to S. 1813, as amended, their House counterparts were in recess for a district work period. House leaders havve not provided details on their path forward on the legislation, following numerous attempts to reach consensus within the majority caucus on a renewal strategy. There are staff reports that House leaders are still hoping to pass a 5-year bill, with a target of mid-April as the earliest date for unveiling a proposal.

As such, another extension of the current transportation law is being prepared as the March 31 expiration deadline approaches. While an extension is certain, the duration of the extension is not, as Senators press House leaders to embrace their bipartisan proposal and House leaders seek more time to find votes for an alternative package.

In working toward consensus on floor amendments, Senate leaders barred Senator Mark Begich (AK) from offering his amendment to restore the local area share of funding under the Transportation Mobility Program (TMP).

Despite strong local government support, Begich’s amendment to distribute TMP program funds to local areas in the same manner as current law has provided since 1991 under the Surface Transportation Program was not made part of the Senate’s unanimous consent agreement. As a result, local areas will not share proportionally in the increased funding to this most flexible of funding categories; S. 1813 instead directs most of the additional TMP funding to state highway and transportation departments.

The Senate bill reauthorizes the federal surface transportation law for two fiscal years (through Fiscal Year 2013), providing inflation-adjusted funding for highway, transit and safety programs. In contrast to an earlier version of the House bill (H.R. 7), S. 1813 preserves the 30-year commitment to highway and transit program funding, ensuring that all surface transportation needs rise and fall together, an important commitment for many reasons, especially now as communities brace for another run-up in gasoline prices.

The Senate legislation raises funding commitments to the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), from about $122 million to $1 billion annually. This significant TIFIA expansion has been a top priority of Conference President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa.

Under S. 1813, larger metropolitan areas (serving one million or more people) will have more certainly over funds provided to them, with formula distributed funds under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program and a revamped Transportation Enhancements program. Increasing the share of funds that are distributed by formula directly to local areas (i.e., suballocated) has been a top priority of the Conference of Mayors for more than a decade (explaining why the Conference pressed so hard for adoption of the Begich amendment).

In a separate action, the Senate adopted an amendment that directs states to ensure that “off'system” bridge repair needs receive an annual investment level equal to what was apportioned in Fiscal Year 2009 for off-system bridges under the federal Bridge Program, which was first established in 1978 and is slated for elimination under S. 1813.

In addition to providing for the extension of federal transportation excise taxes and other provisions to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the end of the next fiscal year, other provisions were included as part of the tax title of S. 1813. For example, the legislation restores parity between parking and commute benefits, which lapsed December 31, 2011. Currently, employers can exclude only $125 monthly for public transit and vanpool benefits, although $240 per month can be excluded for parking. As of December 31, 2011, both were capped at $230 per month. S. 1813 reinstates parity at $240 per month for transit and parking benefits through December 31, 2012.

In another action to promote increased infrastructure investment, as the Conference of Mayors has urged for many years, tax-exempt private activity tax bonds issued after the date of enactment and before January 1, 2018 for wastewater and water facility projects are exempt state private activity bond volume caps.

S. 1813 also changes the rules pertaining to the depreciation and amortization of highways subject to long-term leases, provisions that will change the current environment for highway leasebacks, such as those previously undertaken by Chicago and Indiana.