Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021
This bill reauthorizes through FY2026, revises, and establishes multiple transportation programs and activities, including those supported by the Highway Trust Fund.
This includes
incorporating data-driven practices and other changes to transportation planning activities;
modifying requirements concerning contracting methods, compliance with federal environmental laws, and additional aspects of delivering and improving processes related to transportation projects;
mitigating climate change through, among other efforts, programs to reduce emissions and supporting alternative fueling infrastructure; and
addressing transportation safety, new transportation technologies and systems, storm water management, cybersecurity, active transportation, and other miscellaneous matters.
In addition, the bill modifies eligibility criteria and other elements of a program that provides loans and other types of credit for surface transportation projects of regional and national significance.
Further, the bill makes changes to research and related activities carried out by the Department of Transportation (DOT). For example, DOT must carry out and support research on (1) user-based alternative revenue mechanisms to support the Highway Trust Fund, (2) automated vehicles and other new technologies, and (3) development of data sets to measure performance and other aspects of transportation programs.
The bill also authorizes through FY2026 funding for the Department of the Interior for road maintenance and otherwise addresses transportation programs for Indian tribes.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 27, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 27, 2021: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Thomas Carper (D-DE) introduced it on May 27, 2021, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 27, 2021, 1932 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1932 days ago, on May 27, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers