Bipartisan agreement reached on a $305 billion five-year highway bill

Perhaps a December miracle is in the works, as Congress reportedly reached a compromise Tuesday on a $305 billion bill that will fund infrastructure projects for five years and reauthorize the Export-Import Bank through 2019. Siobhan Hughes has the details:

The bill would provide money for programs with strong regional constituencies, such as buses and ferries, and for the first time set up a grant program guaranteeing funds for large freight projects, which typically haven’t garnered political support because they deliver goods and not people.

The release of the measure—a day after Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton unveiled her own infrastructure plan—highlighted a political environment in which leaders eyeing next year’s elections see the importance of basic tasks of government, such as highway and transit maintenance.

Although the bill is notably more substantial than the recent patchwork extensions of only a year, it does not pinpoint a consistent revenue source from which to draw on long-term since the traditional source, the gas tax, has been providing less output as vehicles become more fuel efficient.

Among other things, the measure would raise revenue by selling oil from the nation’s emergency stockpile and taking money from a Federal Reserve surplus account that works as a sort of cushion to help the bank pay for potential losses.

Paul Ryan said the House would act on the bill this week before the current Highway Trust Fund expires Friday. The Senate is then expected to take it up.