congress

congress

Highway bill

The House voted Wednesday to shore up federal aid for highway and transit programs and fill a budget hole in veterans’ health care:

HIGHWAY-TRANSIT EXTENSION

The House voted to extend spending authority for the Department of Transportation through Oct. 29, and replenish the federal Highway Trust Fund with $8 billion. That’s enough money to keep highway and transit aid flowing to states through mid-December if necessary. The Senate is expected to follow suit later in the week.

Congress is up against a deadline of midnight Friday to act. That’s when authority for the Transportation Department will expire and the department no longer will be able to process highway and transit aid payments to states. This will be the 34th short-term extension Congress has passed since 2009.

VETERANS HEALTH CARE

The highway extension bill includes nearly $3.4 billion to fill in a gap in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ budget that officials say could force the government to close hospitals and clinics nationwide. Lawmakers from both parties said the spending is necessary even as they complained about the VA’s failure to anticipate the problem.

Source: Associated Press