House approves short-term patch for highway program

Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a long-term, six-year transportation bill that would be merged with the $278 billion DRIVE ACT.    The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a five-month extension of the surface transportation program, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the month. The vote of 312 to 119 authorizes and finances highway and transit programs through the end of the year.
   Lawmakers said the short-term fix is necessary until a multi-year plan can be approved. It would inject $8 billion from the Treasury into the insolvent Highway Trust Fund and make the move deficit-neutral by improving enforcement of tax laws and postponing spending of $3 billion in passenger security fees collected by the Transportation Security Administration.
   Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a six-year transportation bill that is scheduled to be merged with the $278 billion DRIVE ACT previously passed by another committee.
   Among its highlights are provisions to develop a national freight strategy and permanently codify the TIGER grant program, which helps provide funds to support multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation infrastructure projects across the nation.
   The bill includes a provision that would allow trucking companies to test hair rather than urine for drug usage among drivers. Hair follicle testing is considered much more accurate than urine-based testing, but trucking companies that use it have to also pay for urine-based testing to comply with the law. The provision would give them the option of choosing one method or the other.
   Few analysts expect a long-term surface transportation bill to be taken up by Congress this year or next.
   The short-term highway bill now goes to the Senate for debate.