The House and the Senate gave final passage to a two-year extension of the Highway Bill. By a vote of 373-52, the House first cleared the measure paving way for the Senate to pass the bill by a vote of 74-19. The Senate spent the afternoon trying to attach several unrelated provisions to the bill but were unsuccessful in that attempt. It is now awaiting President Obama’s signature.
As we reported yesterday, the bill would continue Highway Trust road and transit programs at current spending levels through FY2014. It also includes a one year extension of the current interest rate for student loans, the flood insurance program reauthorization and the RESTORE Act. Ultimately, Congress was not able to include provisions relating to the Keystone XL pipeline or Coal Ash provisions, as they had originally expected. See the attachment for a copy of the memo sent yesterday that highlights the major provisions.
You can find a link to the Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of the Conference here:
http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF&under;112&under;2/PDF/HR4348crJESih.pdf
As always, we will continue to monitor this and update you accordingly. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of additional assistance.