Following several days of lively debate, the full U.S. Senate last week passed the "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act" (SAFETEA – S. 1072) 76 to 21. SAFETEA provides $318 billion (up slightly from the $311 amount originally proposed and reported in MTR #446) in funding for road, bridge and transit projects and programs over six years, with $255 billion going to roads and bridges and $56 billion for public transportation. A massive set of amendments was added to the bill during the scramble to finish Thursday night. For the most part, these amendments were accepted without debate (or even the full name being read on the Senate floor). The confusion is expected to delay public release of the final bill text until sometime later this week.

For New York and Connecticut, the Senate’s "minimum guarantee" provision returning 95% of a state’s gas tax receipts in the form of federal aid, means the states will see smaller increases in road and bridge funding than all but four other states. Connecticut, whose infrastructure is struggling with years of underinvestment, will see only a 10 percent increase in road and bridge funding, compared to a 36 percent increase nationally. The big bright spot for New York is Senator Chuck Schumer’s success in securing $7.1 billion in transit funding for NY state, a 45 percent increase over the amount authorized under TEA-21. New Jersey, which was a federal "donor" state under the TEA-21 formula, would see a hike just above the national average.

Debate on the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee’s $375 billion version of the bill, "TEA-LU," has not progressed beyond the introduction of a partial bill last November. The committee, however, is expected to take it up again in early March. Meanwhile, the House this week passed a four-month extension of the current funding bill, TEA-21, which originally expired at the end of September last year but was extended until the end of February. Senate leaders have said they will oppose a four-month extension, and instead force the House to accept a one-month extension as a way to maintain pressure to finish a bill before summer. The Senate will act on the extension when it reconvenes after the Presidents’ Day recess.

The House bill, as far as it is know, does not address the 95% "minimum guarantee" that creates problems for states like Connecticut and New York. Alaska would not fare well under the formula approved by the Senate, and the T&I Committee is chaired by Alaska Congressman Don Young.

Eventually, the Senate’s transportation bill will need to be reconciled with any House version that is finally approved. The main outstanding issue is money. Republican leaders don’t want transportation funding levels to increase the federal deficit. President Bush has threatened to veto both the House and the Senate bills, and called the transportation bill "an interesting test of fiscal discipline on both sides of the aisle" on NBC’s Feb. 8 Meet the Press. The President’s reauthorization plan calls for $256 billion over six years. House leadership has echoed the Bush Administration’s concern, with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay adamantly opposed to the gas tax increase underpinning Young’s proposal for $375 billion.

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