On 30 October, the US Senate passed a two-year budget deal that will prevent the nation from defaulting on its loans and avoid shutdown threats through to 2017. With the House of Representatives passing the same measure earlier in the week, it now goes to the President’s desk to await his signature.
The agreement raises the government debt ceiling until March 2017 and sets the government budget through the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years. The budget deal also eases punishing spending caps by providing an additional US$80 billion for military and domestic programmes. Through this, the appropriations committee has until 11 December to craft legislation reflecting the spending priorities set in the new bill.
“The House approved a US$55.3 billion transportation appropriations bill on June 9 to fund the Department of Transportation with an increase of US$1.5 billion from previous year, but the Senate had yet to act until today,” said Pam Whitted, NSSGA senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs. “The good news for the aggregates industry is that increased spending levels in the agreement make it possible for additional investments in transportation infrastructure.”
Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden