SAFETEA

President Signs Three-Month Extension of SAFETEA

March 2012
On March 29, 2012, Congress passed and the President signed H.R. 4281 (Mica) to extend the current surface transportation act, the Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA) until June 30, 2012. This ninth extension of current law was widely recognized as necessary given the failure of the House to pass its own transportation authorization bill, let alone reconcile its version with S. 1813, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP 21), which the Senate passed by a vote of 74-22 on March 14. While an extension is certainly preferable to a lapse in funding, with respect to federal transit funding, it will likely delay the grant approval process for projects already underway and in the pipeline as the total annual funding levels of transit formula funding remain unknown. While the House is expected to resume debate on its own reauthorization proposal, whether or not both chambers can reach agreement on a new structure for the nation’s surface transportation program remains an open question, making another extension through the November election and perhaps through the end of the calendar year, a very real possibility.

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