House Approves $7 Billion Highway Fund

The U.S. House of Representatives approved $7 billion on to temporarily shore up a nearly empty federal trust that pays for road, bridge and transit projects. Supporters garnered the necessary two-thirds support to push through the stop-gap measure intended to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through September 30, the end of the fiscal year. The vote was 363 to 68. The government estimates the account could run dry within several weeks without an emergency infusion of cash. The fund provides states with about $40 billion per year in transportation construction funding. Trust fund disbursements are separate from the billions in economic stimulus money dedicated to states for transportation projects.