On June 3, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee released a five-year, nearly $500 billion surface transportation bill that was part of a broader infrastructure package rolled out in January. The Committee plans to mark up the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST in America) Act on June 17. The current surface transportation authorization expires September 30.

The INVEST in America Act would enable the completion of projects to address roads, bridges, and transit systems in need of repair and replacement through long-term, sustainable funding, and puts the United States "on a path toward zero emissions from the transportation sector by prioritizing carbon pollution reduction." The bill does not include revenue provisions, and the Ways & Means Committee could be expected to mark up a tax title at some point.

This bill is likely an opening bid for bicameral highway bill negotiations that must be resolved in some fashion prior to the September 30 deadline, and comes amid some uncertainty over whether a broader infrastructure package can be enacted as part of coronavirus response stimulus legislation. On a Tax Analysts Webcast today, Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) said he is going to discuss infrastructure with House Democratic leaders on June 4, and with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin on June 5.

In the Senate, the Environment & Public Works Committee approved a five-year highway bill in July 2019, though the Finance Committee has not put forward a tax title providing the revenue portion. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has long said a highway bill would be the extent of infrastructure legislation, and in late April dismissed calls for infrastructure investment as a coronavirus economic stimulus measure. Senator McConnell said infrastructure is "unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic, which is the reason we have run up the national debt $2.8 trillion," and that the Senate would pass a more modest measure, presumably referring to the highway bill.

The Democratic-led House and Republican-controlled Senate will eventually need to negotiate and reach agreement on surface transportation proposals and how to pay for them.

A summary is attached along with a press release with a link to the bill text.

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ATTACHMENTS

Press Release

INVEST in America ACT Section by Section Summary