Congress set to extend highway funding through Dec. 4 as work continues on long-term bill

The U.S. House passed by a voice vote late Monday a short-term highway funding bill that extends federal highway funding to Dec. 4.

The current stopgap measure passed in late October expires Friday, Nov. 20. Members of the House and Senate began meeting this week in a conference committee tasked with producing a unified long-term bill that can get through both chambers of Congress. The Senate likely will take up the House’s short-term patch in the coming days.

Each chamber has passed this year a long-term highway funding plan, and the conference committee is tasked with reconciling the differences between the two. Lawmakers may also be altering some of the trucking-specific language in the bill, such as amending language to so-called carrier “hiring standards” in an attempt to fix a provision that could negatively impact hundreds of thousands of small carriers.

Also up for consideration may be an amendment that would, according to the amendment’s opposition, put a dent in driver pay reform efforts by driver unions and small trucker advocacy groups.