Congress Heads Into Transportation Debate Without Obama Proposal

President Barack Obama’s call to almost double transportation spending over the next six years may have little influence on Congress as it starts debating how much money to allot to U.S. infrastructure.

The Senate brought highway, bridge and mass-transit legislation to the floor last week and the House is scheduled to start discussing a bill tomorrow. Both chambers are examining proposals for funding from non-transportation sources, including forcing federal employees pay more toward their pensions, changing the way inherited individual retirement accounts are taxed and using revenue from expanded oil and gas drilling.