The Senate April 17 overwhelmingly approved a "technical corrections" highway bill that will ensure that numerous highway projects authorized under SAFETEA-LU continue to move forward. The Senate also approved an amendment by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that will request a Justice Dept. criminal investigation into a controversial earmark in SAFETEA-LU that appears to have been altered after the bill was approved by both chambers in 2005.
A comparable highway bill passed the House last year. The 88-2 Senate vote ensures that hundreds of construction projects that could have been delayed due to technical mistakes and inaccuracies in the original highway bill language can now move forward. Pete Ruane, chief executive of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, says, "This bill will allow almost 500 highway-improvement projects valued at more than $1 billion to move forward."