Highway Investment, Job Creation, and Economic Growth Act of 2012
Latest action. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 327.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Highway Investment, Job Creation, and Economic Growth Act of 2012 - Title I: Extension of Highway Trust Fund Expenditure Authority and Related Taxes - (Sec. 101) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend through September 30, 2013, the expenditure authority for the Highway Trust Fund; and (2) extend through September 30, 2015, current excise tax rates on motor fuels (i.e., gasoline, diesel fuel and kerosene, and special motor fuels), excise taxes on heavy highway vehicles and highway tires, and the use tax on heavy vehicles.
Title II: Other Provisions - (Sec. 201) Extends through 2012: (1) the special exemption for small bond issuers (issuers of $10 million or less of tax-exempt obligations in a calendar year) from tax-exempt interest expense allocation rules, (2) the exemption of tax-exempt interest on private activity bonds from treatment as an item of tax preference for alternative minimum tax (AMT) purposes, and (3) the equalization of the tax exclusion for employer-provided mass transit and parking benefits.
(Sec. 203) Allows a state, through a state infrastructure bank, to issue transportation and regional infrastructure project (TRIP) bonds and deposit proceeds into the TRIP bond account of the bank. Requires such proceeds to be used for capital improvements to any transportation infrastructure project of any governmental unit or other person, including roads, bridges, rail and transit systems, ports, and inland waterways.
(Sec. 205) Exempts sewage and water facility bonds issued before January 1, 2018, from the volume cap applicable to private activity bonds.
Title III: Revenue Provisions - (Sec. 301) Transfers to the Highway Trust Fund: (1) $3 billion from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund, (2) one-third of the LUST Trust Fund financing rate with respect to motor fuels, (3) revenue from the gas guzzler tax, (4) additional revenue from restrictions placed on the cellulosic biofuel producer tax credit by this Act, and (5) certain tariffs on motor cars and other motor vehicles with a specified cylinder capacity.
The summary continues for 11 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate without amendment" stage on February 27, 2012. 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 February 27, 2012: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 327.
- 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
MAX BAUCUS (D-MT) introduced it on February 27, 2012. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 February 27, 2012, 5309 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5309 days ago, on February 27, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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