Senate OKs Bill Giving $7 Billion to States for Roads
WASHINGTON — Breaking a legislative logjam that began in 1984, the Senate on Saturday approved, 94 to 0, the allocation of more than $7 billion among the states for interstate highway construction and other transportation projects.
Consideration of the popular bill--estimated to create up to 200,000 construction jobs--had been held up for four days because of a filibuster over emergency agricultural credit. When farm-state Democrats dropped their speechmaking marathon, the Senate confirmed Edwin Meese III as attorney general and then turned to the highway bill.
The highway measure has been called a “clean bill,” lacking many of the “demonstration projects” and other pork-barrel specialties that led to a deadlock last year over a similar bill.
Now the bill goes to the House, where action may come as early as this week.
Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) has said that California is in line for the biggest share, $598.8 million. The money comes from the Highway Trust Fund, into which the revenues from the federal gasoline tax flow.
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