Senate THUD Subcommittee Approves Fiscal Year 2017 Spending Package

4/21/2016 10 Considerations in Choosing a Freight Audit and Payment Provider


The Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the full Senate Appropriations Committee today approved a draft fiscal year 2017 bill to fund transportation and housing programs and projects. The bill, which was approved by voice vote, sets overall spending at $57.3 billion. Of note, specifically, the bill would:

  • Provide additional money for safe deployment of autonomous vehicles and to shore up cybersecurity defense in those technologies.
  • Provide the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) with $50 million to address rail safety issues and a funding boost to tackle the national rail repair maintenance backlog.
  • Require the DOT to propose a rule on “speed governors” to keep commercial truckers and bus drivers from speeding “expeditiously.”
  • Fix the HOS drafting error by establishing a 73-hour restart provision after one week of work. This would include the total time worked by a trucker including loading and unloading freight, not just driving time.

The bill markup will be during the full Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Thursday, April 21.