Alert

Another legislative week in Washington, another countdown to the expiration of federal highway funding.

Lawmakers agree the best path for funding the upkeep of roads and bridges resides in long-term legislation, a measure that provides certainty for projects five to six years in the future.

In the last decade, though, they’ve yet to pass a funding mechanism for a term longer than two years, and many times, as with the current extension, the term has been mere months.

Funding runs out on July 31 with the agreement now in place. On Tuesday, a bipartisan leadership group on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee introduced its vision for a six-year Highway Bill.

“I think we need a multi-year bill. I would be disappointed with anything that doesn’t get into the four-, five- or six-year category,” Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt said in a conference call with reporters last week.

“It’s clear that we need to find some resources for transportation beyond what the gas tax produces.”

His colleagues, Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, the committee chairman and ranking member, respectively, unveiled a plan called the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act.

Shorthanded as the DRIVE Act, it provides funding stability over a half-dozen years while introducing a “freight program” that helps states with projects that would speed the delivery of consumer goods.

Mr. Inhofe said the measure would “prioritize federal spending on the facilities that will most directly benefit our economy, in addition to prioritizing federal dollars toward bridge safety and the interstate system.”

The public-works committee will take up the bill in a meeting this morning.

While not on that panel, Mr. Blunt, a Republican, believes his home state stands at the crossroads of the nation’s road, rail and river traffic and benefits from a transportation bill that provides ample time for planning and executing large projects.

The Missouri senator also feels that passing a long-term bill will buy Congress time to find alternative ways to pay for transportation work. The federal gas tax, paid 18.4 cents at a time for each gallon pumped, brings in about $34 billion a year, while transportation spending usually amounts to around $50 billion.

“It gives us that much longer also to look at whether there’s a better way in the future to fund roads and bridges than the gas tax,” Mr. Blunt said. “Lots of vehicles are on the highway now that don’t use gasoline, and I assume that percentage of vehicles is going to grow.”

Earlier this month, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, joined Mr. Blunt and a bipartisan group of senators in introducing the Building and Renewing Infrastructure for Development and Growth in Employment Act.

Among other things, the measure creates an independent financing authority to augment the traditional federal methods of funding infrastructure, not just transportation projects but sewers, ports and water systems.

“At a time when congressional leaders have failed to produce or let us vote on a long-term Highway Bill, this is an innovative approach that can help in Missouri and in states across the country to start tackling our highest priority infrastructure needs,” Ms. McCaskill said in a statement.

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