Leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee—two Democrats and two Republicans—have taken the first major action this year toward passing a long-delayed multiyear surface transportation bill. Industry officials welcomed the May 25 announcement that the four lawmakers had agreed on a framework for a $339.2-billion highway-transit measure that could stretch to as long as six years.
But the plan is a long way from getting enacted. The senators haven’t lined up firm sources for all the funding, and a not-yet-introduced House version may well come in far south of $339 billion.