House, Senate leaders urge committee to complete work on surface transportation bill by June 30 to meet deadline

Kendall Sinclair

GRAIN VALLEY, Missouri , June 20, 2012 (Land Line) – House and Senate leaders are urging members of a committee to complete their work on a multiyear surface transportation bill by June 30. The committee of 33 representatives and 16 senators is running out of time and options before the federal transportation program expires on that date.

“Senate Leader Harry Reid and Speaker John Boehner have told Chairman John Mica and me to finish our work this week on the transportation bill,” Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, told the media on Tuesday, June 19.

“I have asked Chairman Mica to meet continually over the next several days to achieve this deadline.”

The negotiating committee, chaired by Boxer, began meeting in May to find common language on a bill that invests in infrastructure, creates jobs and defines policies including motor carrier safety.

Should lawmakers fail to deliver a new bill by the end of the month, Congress will be forced to extend the 2005 program known as SAFETEA-LU for a tenth time. SAFETEA-LU expired in 2009.

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