Senate Appropriations Committee approves spending bill

The Senate appropriations Committee has approved a US$77.9 billion fiscal 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Affairs spending bill on 21 April by a vote of 30-0. This is a particularly significant bill for the aggregates industry because it provides the funding for the FAST Act.

The bill provides full funding of the Highway Trust Fund programme and over US$43 billion for the Federal-Aid Highways programme in FY17 – these are exactly the amounts authorised in the FAST Act. The committee rejected a White House proposal to add US$17.9 billion to the US Department of Transportation budget from a new fee on crude oil. The bill increases funding for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants fro US$500 to US$525 million. It maintains level funding for the Airport improvement Programme at US$3.35 billion due to inaction on the FAA Reauthorisation bill that increased programme funding. Additionally, the bill allows commercial truck drivers to reset their work weeks by taking an extended 34-hour off-duty period, though they are still limited to 73 hours of work in seven days.

It is still uncertain when the full Senate will consider the bill.

Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/25042016/senate-appropriations-committee-approves-spending-bill-966/