Government

Highway-Transit Bills' Progress Slows in House, Senate

Conference Committee

Hansen expects the measures eventually will clear the House and Senate. He says, "Will it happen by March 31? It could, but they may need a smaller extension."

The sooner the two bills are approved, the quicker a House-Senate conference committee can begin to reconcile the measures' many differences. That would produce a final long-term bill and end transportation construction firms' protracted funding by stopgaps. Hansen says of the House and Senate measures, "These are two tickets to paradise."

Pam Whitted, National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association senior vice president for legislative and regulatory affairs, says, "I think, ultimately, you're going to end up with something that is closer to the Senate bill … because it's bipartisan."

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

Post a comment to this article

Live: July 16, 2026 at 2:00 pm EDT We'll address the current state of the construction market as we reach the halfway point of 2026. ENR invites three top forecasters asking them to share their views on the market prospects for the industry at midyear, both nationally & regionally, in the midst of these unique challenges.