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By a vote of 387-37, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure to address the projected Highway Trust Fund deficit in fiscal year 2009. The bipartisan bill, H.R. 6532, was introduced by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN), and Committee Ranking Republican John Mica (R-FL). The bill is identical to the trust fund fix that members of the House and Senate attempted to include on the short-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization measure last month in that it would credit the Highway Trust Fund with the $8 billion in highway user fee revenue that was transferred to the General Fund in 1998 as part of TEA-21.
Congress must enact a fix as soon as possible to prevent all states from receiving an estimated 34 percent reduction in their states' federal highway program funding in fiscal year 2009. Given recent government figures showing a historic reduction in fuel consumption, revenues into the Highway Trust Fund continue to decline further. AGC worked with its transportation industry colleagues to urge members of Congress to support and co-sponsor the bill. As of Monday, there were 103 co-sponsors of the legislation bill on both sides of the aisle. AGC now turns its attention to the Senate, which must now consider the bill.
ALL Congressmen from western Pennsylvania voted for House Resolution 6532. In addition, Representatives Altmire, Murphy and Shuster co-sponsored the Resolution.
 
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