Dive Brief:

• In a bit of budgetary legerdemain, the House of Representatives, 367-55, passed a bill Tuesday to put $10.8 billion into the Highway Trust Fund to keep it afloat through next May.
• If the Senate acts on a bill before the August congressional recess, worries will ease about states having to cut back projects and potentially put hundreds of thousands of contractors' workers off the job.
• The House bill had many critics – but plenty of votes to pass it – because it depends in large part on an arrangement in which corporations are allowed to reduce their contributions to their pension funds. That would reduce their tax deductions, which would increase tax revenue.

Dive Insight:

Congress kicking another can down the road – in this case, past the fall elections – so it winds up back at the same point later is not a surprise in recent years. President Obama criticized the technique Tuesday, as did some representatives who either voted against it or held their noses and voyed "aye." This still looks like the most likely way to avoid a shutdown of money from the Highway Trust Fund, and Senate leaders were taking action to expedite a vote on the House proposal before the end of the month.