Max Baucus: “The amendment that has been agreed to, first, is a significant amendment. It is an increase of about $26 billion in…”

“The amendment that has been agreed to, first, is a significant amendment. It is an increase of about $26 billion in contract authority over 6 years, from $145 billion to about $171 billion for highway programs, plus about $2 billion for safety programs. So the agreement is very significant. It increases highway spending by roughly 20 percent over the committee-reported bill. Now, the actual spending by the States, that is, the outlays, may be a little less than that. I hope not, but that amount is up to the Budget Committees and the Appropriations Committees. Where did we come up with this money? Well, it started with Senator Gramm's amendment last year, which transferred the 4.3-cent gasoline tax to the highway trust fund. That solved the first problem, namely putting that revenue in the Highway Trust Fund. But the second problem was that the Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over highways, could not increase the contract authority in order to spend that 4.3 cents without an agreement on the budget. I am pleased that the agreement we reached today allows most of the 4.3 cents, namely the 3.45 cents that goes to the highway account, to be spent on highways.”