House votes to fund highways in continuing resolutions at 31.8 billion dollars rate

摘要

The House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) that kept the government operating through November 22 and funded the highway program at the current 31.8 billion dollars rate for the duration of the CR An FY 2003 Transportation Appropriations bill must be passed, however, since the CR caps highway in-vestment at 27.7 billion dollars under the agreement to keep current spending rates level in the CRS. The highway funding issue became a hot potato. Democrats, supported by the Congressional Budget Office, contended that the language in the CR, which included a funding cap, was actually a cut in highway funding of 4.1 billion dollars. OMB Director Mitch Daniels weighed in saying that the cap in the CR was not a cut because the rate of spending would continue at the