An amendment offered by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to stop tolling on interstate highways was accepted and passed last week as part of the Senate’s version of the transportation appropriations bill.
The 2008 Transportation Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill passed 88-7 and would be effective Sept. 30, if approved in a conference committee and signed by President Bush.
The timeframe would translate to a one-year ban on tolls on existing interstates, Hutchison says. “I will continue to push for a permanent prohibition of tolling existing highways,” Hutchison says.
On the House side, four representatives have filed HR 3510, which mirrors Hutchison’s bill.
