Dive Brief:
- Calls for infrastructure repair and an understanding that the federal Highway Trust Fund will be out of business for new projects by the end of this fiscal year appear to be generating action in Washington.
- Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says she wants to have a bill for financing the fund moving by April so it can go to the Senate Finance Committee soon after.
- Democrats and Republicans "must work together to find the sweet spot for a dependable, bipartisan source of funding for the Highway Trust Fund," Boxer said.
Dive Insight:
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials laid out how important the trust fund is to states' highway and transportation work at a recent Boxer committee hearing. Whether or not the calls for bipartisan action will be like the recent passage of this fiscal year's budget remains to be seen.
