Federal transportation bill signed

For the first time since 2005, Congress enacted and the president signed new legislation that provides funding for critical transit and transportation infrastructure projects across the country.

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), signed by President Barack Obama on July 6, authorizes approximately $118 billion in federal transportation spending over the next 27 months.

Much of the funding will come from revenue generated by the federal gas tax, which remains unchanged at 18.4 cents per gallon. Other supplementary funds will be transferred from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund.

The multi-year bill enables transportation improvement projects to progress with funding certainty and facilitates longer-term planning.

The legislation represents a compromise between the House and the Senate transportation bills and comes after approximately 60 days of negotiations by a 47-member conference committee. The Senate had passed a transportation bill in March; the House did not bring a bill to the floor.

Language championed in the House that would have enabled the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline was excluded from the final bill.

The compromise legislation had the unanimous support of the Massachusetts congressional delegation. The state will receive approximately $2 billion in aid across transportation categories.

Because MAP-21 is essentially a two-year bill, Congress is expected to begin work on the next transportation bill shortly. The sustainability of the Highway Trust Fund remains uncertain, and changes to transportation financing mechanisms will be considered.

Prior to the enactment of MAP-21, SAFETEA-LU, the nation’s expired transportation legislation, was extended 10 times by Congress.