The U.S. Senate on Thursday agreed to keep the money flowing to highway projects around the country for another three months.
Senators voted 91-4 to extend the federal transportation funding bill until Oct. 29. It is the 34th time Congress has voted for short-term extensions since 2009, according to published reports.
The House approved the extension Wednesday.
Without it, funding for highway projects in Vermont and the U.S. would have been halted Friday. Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., voted for the extension. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., voted no.
Sanders said in a statement that his vote was cast “reluctantly.”
“I am extraordinarily frustrated that Congress failed to pass a long-term bill before the July 31 deadline,” he said. “The Senate transportation committee unanimously passed the bulk of the bill last month. Meanwhile, the House has not done anything.”
Welch, Leahy and Sanders support a long-term solution to problems with the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for transportation infrastructure improvements nationwide.
To break the stalemate in the House, Welch has proposed using a parliamentary maneuver in which competing proposals are voted upon and the most popular one prevails.
The Senate has approved a six-year, $350 billion funding plan but House Republicans oppose it because sources of money are only identified for the first three years.
The extension means Vermont officials can relax for another three months.
Federal funds make up more than 60 percent of Vermont’s $616 million transportation budget and state officials have been preparing contingency plans in case Congress cuts off funding.
