U.S. Senate passes CR bill to fund government, transportation

The U.S. Senate has passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 11, including extensions of surface transportation funding.

The resolution passed by a 90-6 vote and now moves to the U.S. House, which returns from recess on August 31. Current funding is set to expire on September 30.

The Senate bill does fund most surface transportation, but also limits some transportation spending. Most notably, it does not extend advanced appropriations to state and local governments through Division J of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for items like mass transit and railroads.

The House passed a continuing resolution before leaving for its summer recess. but that one only extends funding to December 4 and does not include all of the funding that the Senate version did, so the two chambers will need to reconcile the differences before a final version can be voted on.

A House measure to fully reauthorize surface transportation funding has been stalled since May