House and Senate negotiators have had their first formal meeting to draft a new multi-year transportation bill, and the major issues--broad differences in funding and a battle between donor and donee states--were on lawmakers minds. A difficult path lies ahead: no major provisions were resolved and the conference isn't scheduled to meet again until June 23.
One sign of the tough task conferees face is that the first meeting, held June 9, came more than eight months after the previous bill, the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, lapsed. Federal highway and transit programs have been operating since TEA-21's Sept. 30 expiration under a series of short-term extensions. The current extension, the third such measure, runs out on June 30. Unless a stunning breakthrough in the conference occurs in the next three weeks, another extension will be needed.