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The unanimous voice vote sends the measure to President
Barack Obama for signing into law before current transportation
spending authority expires on May 31.
The White House said Obama would sign the short-term fix if work
continues towards a long-term bill.
Obama has requested a six-year, $478 billion transportation
bill, and last week said he was in talks with congressional
leaders and willing to look at all revenue sources to fund it.
"I don't have much progress to report, unfortunately, at this
point," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said of the talks
about a long-term plan.
The two-month extension resulted from lawmakers' inability to
agree on funding for either a six-year bill, or even a much
shorter extension through the end of 2015, which would cost
about $11 billion.
Because it relies on the remaining money in the Highway Trust
Fund, the short-term extension requires no offsetting savings,
representing the easiest solution for Congress before it
embarked Friday on a 10-day Memorial Day break.
It will avoid disruption to current construction sites, but sets
up a new deadline in July, when the trust fund is due to run dry
again.
Fed by fuel taxes that have not changed since 1993, the fund has
experienced chronic shortfalls in recent years due to rising
vehicle fuel economy, fewer miles driven and construction cost
inflation. Lawmakers from both parties have ruled out a fuel tax
increase despite support for that from trucking and industry
groups.
The Obama administration has proposed capturing revenue by
requiring U.S. corporations to bring home some $2 trillion
profits held overseas at a lower, 14-percent tax rate. But some
Republicans, including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman
Paul Ryan, have said this would require a broader tax reform
plan.
State transport officials and many lawmakers contend that a
series of short-term funding patches may keep existing work
going, but they do not provide enough long-term funding
certainty to launch major new projects.
That may cloud the demand outlook for major construction
materials, equipment and engineering suppliers such as Lafarge
SA, Deere & Co, and Fluor Corp.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Eric Beech)
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