Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
strongly condemned the Senate’s failure today to reach unanimous consent on legislation that would provide $8 billion of much-needed funding to the depleted U.S. Highway Trust Fund, as part of the 6-month Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extension legislation. The proposal would enable vital infrastructure repairs and new projects that would create jobs for tens of thousands of Americans while ensuring safe travel for millions more. The Baucus plan would transfer $8 billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund, the same amount transferred from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund in 1998.
“Highway Trust Fund deficits threaten to derail our infrastructure projects and put our citizens at risk, yet the Senate was stopped today from passing crucial legislation for America’s public safety and for folks who desperately need the jobs that highway funds create," Baucus said. “It’s past time to replace money originally taken from the Highway Trust when it was solvent. Replenishing the highway trust fund now would prevent the loss of an estimated 380,000 jobs, create new ones, and do so without increasing the federal budget deficit. Unfounded objections are keeping the Senate from providing a timely, responsible and critical response to the need for highway jobs and safer America’s roadways."
Failure to pass a six-month extension of FAA reauthorization, which was also blocked by today’s objection, will result in a furlough of thousands of FAA employees at the end of this month.
Source: Ranking Member’s News
