Senate Votes to Reauthorize TEA-21 despite Veto Threat

摘要

Defying a possible presidential veto, the Senate on Feb-ruary 12 overwhelmingly approved its version of leg-islation to reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the 1998 law that funds the nation's surface transportation program. Passed by a vote of 76 to 21, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act (S. 1072) would provide $318 billion for highway, mass transit, and safety programs over six years, a figure well above what the Bush administration has said it would be willing to accept. Now that the Senate has voted, the debate over transportation funding levels shifts to the House. There a more expensive bill favored by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is likely to encounter even greater opposition from a White House that is looking to hold the line on spending during an election year.