House appoints negotiators for highway bill talks with Senate

Lawmakers in the House moved quickly to appoint conferees to a potential conference on highway funding with the Senate after passing a $325 billion transportation package on Thursday morning. 

Both chambers are hoping to meet ahead of a Nov. 20 deadline for renewing federal road funding that is currently set to expire on that date. 

Leaders in the House appointed 16 Republicans and 12 Democrats to sit in on the forthcoming negotiations with the Senate, including Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who are the top ranking lawmakers on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. 

{mosads}“This is an outstanding, hard-working group of Members,” Shuster said in a statement.  “I am confident that we will be able to take the strong House bill approved today, resolve any differences we have with the Senate’s position, and produce a final measure that improves our nation’s infrastructure and reforms our transportation programs.”

The highway bill that was approved by the House on Thursday calls for spending $261 billion on highways and $55 billion on transit over six years. The legislation authorizes highway funding for six years, but only if Congress can come up with a way to pay for the final three years. The bill was approved in a 363-64 vote.

The Senate passed a similar piece of legislation that contained three years’ worth of guaranteed highway funding in July, and lawmakers in the upper chamber have said they are eager to get to conference. 

“Today the House of Representatives gave strong bipartisan support for a long-term surface transportation bill, which enables us to move forward to conference so we can work out our differences and get this legislation to the President’s desk by Thanksgiving,” said Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who are the top ranking Republican and Democrat, respectively, on the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. 

“Businesses, labor, states, and local communities are depending on us to pass a consensus-based, bipartisan bill which provides funding certainty that will enable them to modernize our nation’s highways, bridges, and transit systems,” the Senate duo continued. “We are also pleased that this bill provides the opportunity for increased investment in our aging infrastructure.”

Other Republican highway bill conferees announced on Thursday by the House include Reps. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-Tenn.); Sam Graves (R-Mo.); Candice Miller (R-Mich.); Rick Crawford (R-Ark.); Lou Barletta (R-Pa.); Blake Farenthold (R-Texas); Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio); Jeff Denham (R-Calif.); Reid Ribble (R-Wis.); Scott Perry (R-Pa.); Rob Woodall (R-Ga.); John Katko (R-N.Y.); Brian Babin (R-Texas); Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.) and Garret Graves (R-La.). 

Additional Democratic House highway bill conferees include Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.); Corrine Brown (D-Fla.); Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas); Elijah Cummings (D-Md.); Rick Larsen (D-Wash.); Michael Capuano (D-Mass.); Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.); Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.); Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.); Albio Sires (D-N.J.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).  

-Updated with new information at 2:04 p.m.