PBS reports that the transportation bill — the massive legislation authorizing and funding the country’s roads and mass-transit infrastructure (from highways to bus lanes to railways to bike lanes) — expires every six years. That, however, does not mean a new bill is passed every six-years. It’s Washington, D.C., after all.

AASHTO Media Release

Statement by John Horsley, Executive Director, On Senate Approval the 30-Day Extension of Highway and Transit Programs

“We are pleased that the Senate has approved a 30-day extension of the nation’s critical highway and transit programs and that the President has moved swiftly to sign the measure into law. This action jump-starts hundreds of idled projects and puts thousands of workers back on the job at highway construction sites and several federal agencies.

“The bad news today, however, is that the uncertainty remains. This marks the fourth short-term extension of SAFETEA-LU, the highway and transit authorization act that expired on September 30, 2009. It is essential, therefore, that the House of Representatives quickly passes a separate Senate bill that would extend SAFETEA-LU through the end of this year and transfer funds to the highway trust fund to keep it solvent.

“Cash-strapped states that are struggling in this down economy can ill-afford to be subjected to continued month-by-month extensions and the risk of another shutdown. The ultimate goal is a multi-year bill, but, in the interim, we need to remember that we’re talking about real projects, real people, and real paychecks that circulate money throughout the economy. House passage of the Senate H.I.R.E bill will be the first step toward reassuring states that they can make the long-term commitments necessary to run their programs.”

If Sen. Jim Bunning had not balked at the end of his far-from-perfect game on the floor of the U.S. Senate, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the team of contractors out in the field on numerous federal-aid highway projects stood to lose an average of $1.76 million in reimbursement per workday.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Senate was tied in knots Monday as it tried to get around a single lawmaker’s objection to a spending bill. Sen. Jim Bunning (R., Ky.) again blocked a $10 billion bill that would have extended unemployment benefits and other programs after halting its progress last week. And on Monday, the impact of his blockade started biting, with the expiration of benefits to 100,000 people and the suspension of 41 transportation projects across the country.

Following an emergency meeting today to discuss the impact of the current shutdown of federal highway and transit programs, state transportation officials called the action a bad situation that will only get worse. “If you do the math, we’re talking about more than $153 million a day in lost reimbursement payments for highway projects to the states,” said Larry L. “Butch” Brown, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation and president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “Congress has to move quickly to correct this by passing legislation and getting it signed into law.”

The beefed-up late fees that came with last year’s FASTER bill made a lot of procrastinating motorists angry but they have also had a much quieter and positive effect. More and more people are registering their vehicles on time rather than letting their expired registrations lag.

AASHTO Media Release

Statement on the Impending Expiration of Federal Highway and Transit Programs by John Horsley, Executive Director

Because of the impending expiration of the Federal Highway and Transit Programs at midnight on March 1, the Federal Highway Administration will be required to suspend Federal-aid payments to the States. These federal reimbursements of funds already expended by the states amount to roughly $800 million a week. The Federal Transit Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Motor Carrier Safety Administration would also suspend payments. On Tuesday personnel of the FHWA, FMCSA parts of NHTSA will be sent home causing FHWA and FMCSA to shut down.

“We are deeply concerned about the severe impacts to state and local transportation programs of this disruption of the federal highway and transit programs,” said John Horsley, AASHTO executive director. “We commend Chairman Oberstar, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid for reaching an agreement that will enable the House to pass the Senate version of an extension of the highway and transit programs, with the understanding that a later legislative fix will revise how highway discretionary funds are to be distributed. We hope Congress can move this legislation as early in the week as possible so reimbursements to the states can resume.”

The Federal Times reports that Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said Wednesday the department has a backlog between $80 billion and $100 billion in high-priority infrastructure improvement projects that it cannot afford to fund.

The Journal of Commerce reports that stimulus funds for transportation infrastructure have so far paid to complete more than 3,000 construction projects around the United States and are now supporting three times that many under construction.
Those numbers come from the latest oversight report from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, based on data as of Dec. 31.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act set aside $64.1 billion for expenditures under the committee’s jurisdiction. The report said nearly 17,000 projects totaling $56 billion have already been identified.

Go to the Journal of Commerce …

The Journal of Commerce reports that Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, says he backed a Democratic jobs bill Monday after Majority Leader Harry Reid assured him the Senate will vote later in 2010 on a long-term surface transportation bill.

Voinovich was one of five Republicans who backed a jobs bill offered by Reid, D-Nev., which would also extend current federal transportation spending levels through the end of this year. Voinovich said that before casting his vote to help get the jobs bill past a filibuster, “Leader Reid gave me his commitment that he will bring the reauthorization of a multi-year surface transportation bill to the floor for a vote this year.”