04.05.2012 - By Texas Department of Transportation
Do you remember where you were on September 30, 2009? If that date doesn't ring a bell, it should if you're interested in transportation. September 30, 2009 was the last day of the SAFETEA-LU Federal Surface Transportation bill, which in short sets the federal gas tax rate and distributes the proceeds across the country according to the formula in the bill. A little more than two-and-a-half years later, SAFETEA-LU, which was insolvent when it expired, has been extended nine times by dipping into other federal funding. The latest extension came on March 31, which kept SAFETEA-LU alive for another three months. The repeated extensions while Congress wrestles with the creation of a new bill begs two questions: first, what's the holdup, and second, why do we need a federal transportation bill? To help answer those questions, I spoke with Coby Chase, Director of TxDOT's Federal Legislative Affairs Section.