House sends Highway Trust Fund patch back to the Senate
According to an article in Roll Call, the House voted 272-145 to send its original $10.8 billion bill back to the Senate.
Earlier this week, the Senate voted on a revised bill that would extend the measure from May to December in an effort to force Congress to find a more permanent solution to the funding issue.
House democrats are dissatisfied with the House’s decision to retain the original bill, the article continues. In the vote for the House’s version, 227 Republicans and only 46 Democrats were in support of the measure.
“They are going to slide into the next Congress,” says Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. “We are going to duck all the tough issues. We haven’t heard anything that deals with how we are going to move forward.”
With a shortage of the Highway Trust Fund coming up on August 1, the Senate must now make a decision.