On Friday, members of Congress officially passed a $105 billion transportation spending bill that would result in the creation or saving of approximately 3 million jobs. The $105 billion would be spent over the next 27 months. In a rare showing of compromise and bipartisanship, the House of Representatives passed the bill with a vote of 373 to 52, and the Senate approved it 74-19. The bill was just one day before a lapse in transportation funding that would make numerous construction projects and jobs in jeopardy.
Republicans agreed to remove stipulations in the bill that would have approved the much-debated Keystone XL Pipeline and prevented the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating coal waste from power plants.
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) urged Congress to pass the bill, saying in a press release "The conference agreement provides for $120 billion in funding for transportation infrastructure projects over two fiscal years, and also contains provisions to streamline environmental reviews that will allow projects to move forward more quickly while saving the public money. It also includes important reforms to close a loophole that has been used in the past to evade Buy America requirements for Federal highway and bridge construction."