$580B federal highway bill clears committee; includes rail safety, EV fees

A long-awaited bill spending $580 billion on American highways and transportation infrastructure is on track to hit the U.S. House floor for a vote as soon as June.

The bipartisan BUILD America 250 Act, a five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill, passed out of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure early Friday morning.

The 1,000-page legislation makes the largest federal investment in bridges and provides new revenue for the dwindling Highway Trust Fund for the first time in more than 30 years. The HTF funds the maintenance, repair and building of U.S. highways and mass transit systems.

Out of the $580 billion authorized in the BUILD America 250 Act, $474 billion is guaranteed in immediate HTF contract authority. Congress must implement the remaining $106 billion via annual appropriations bills over the next five years in order for that money to be dispersed.

“You can’t have a big-league economy with little-league infrastructure,” ...