AASHTO Journal

Federal Highway & Transit Programs Extended Through February

President Barack Obama signed into law last week a Department of Defense appropriations bill that includes an extension of highway and transit authorization through February — the fourth short-term extension since the 2005 transportation law known as “SAFETEA-LU” expired Sept. 30.

The 67-day extension (contained in HR 3326) became Public Law 111-118 on Dec. 21 following Obama’s signature and the Senate’s Dec. 19 vote of 88-10 to adopt the measure. Congress tacked the transportation authorization extension onto the defense measure because the House and Senate were again unable to reach agreement on a longer-term measure. SAFETEA-LU’s second extension expired Dec. 18; a continuing resolution through Dec. 23 kept federal highway and transit programs operating over the weekend until Obama signed the defense measure.

This is the longest SAFETEA-LU extension to date. The first extension covered the month of October and the second extension was good for 48 days. The third extension lasted only five days.

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