House T&I Committee to mark up transportation bill on Thursday

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has scheduled the markup a long-term surface transportation bill for Thursday, just one week before the current law that authorizes federal transportation spending expires.

The committee will "move forward with the policy and authorization provisions of a bill to improve America's surface transportation infrastructure, reform programs, refocus those programs on national priorities, provide more flexibility and certainty for state and local partners, and welcome innovation," the committee's Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said in a prepared statement.

Last week, the committee released the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform (STRR) Act of 2015, which was introduced by Shuster, Ranking Member Peter DeFazio, and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Sam Graves and subcommittee Ranking Member Eleanor Holmes Norton.

The bill would authorize federal public transportation and highway programs for six years, although it does not yet have a means for funding. It is expected that the finance title from the Ways and Means Committee will provide for funding for only the first three years of the authorization, much like a recently passed Senate companion bill, according to a "Legislative Alert" from the American Public Transportation Association.