Biden, US Congress extend transportation funding

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal lawmakers have extended transportation funding for one month as Democrats continue discussions involving the Senate’s infrastructure bill.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the resolution on Friday in a 365-51 vote; West Virginia Reps. David McKinley, Alex Mooney and Carol Miller supported the measure. The Senate approved the legislation Saturday, and President Joe Biden signed the resolution into law later in the day.

While legislators prevented a government shutdown from happening on Thursday, they did not extend funding for the Highway Trust Fund supporting transportation programs. Around 3,700 Department of Transportation workers were furloughed Friday because of the lapse.

The approval came amid discussions about what to do with the Senate’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Progressive Democrats want to pass the infrastructure measure with a broad $3.5 trillion proposal on social issues. Moderate Democrats — including West Virginia. Sen. Joe Manchin — have shared concerns about the sweeping measure’s cost.

The Senate in August passed the infrastructure measure, which dedicates $550 billion in new spending toward physical infrastructure needs. West Virginia would receive billions of dollars for improvements, including $3 billion for highway programs and a minimum of $100 million for broadband expansion.

Senators have cited the work of committees in getting the legislation together. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a $35 billion water infrastructure bill in April and a $311 surface transportation measure in May. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in July approved a proposal dedicating more than $100 billion for multiple issues, including electric grid reliability and cleaning up mine lands.

Manchin is the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman and helped senators reach a deal with the White House on the infrastructure bill. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., serves as the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and helped lead the Senate through the amendment process.

“I’m deeply disappointed that the House decided to postpone the vote on the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” Capito said Saturday.

“This week shows the fallacy of House Democrats holding a bipartisan infrastructure package hostage to try to force passage of the $3.5 trillion reckless tax and spending spree,” she added. “While I supported the extension, these programs cannot operate effectively while jumping from stopgap to stopgap. This is all the more reason for the House to act quickly and pass the bipartisan infrastructure package so we can move this across the finish line and get it to the president’s desk for his signature.”

The House has the next two weeks scheduled for committee work. Lawmakers also need to reach a deal this month on the debt ceiling to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt and a possible recession.





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