WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the support of U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), the Senate tonight overwhelmingly approved a long-term transportation bill that authorizes $305 billion in funding over the next five years for vital transportation infrastructure projects across the country. The bill will result in increased highway and transit funding for Maine and also includes several provisions either authored or strongly supported by Senator King.

“Our country’s aging transportation infrastructure has been crumbling under our feet as Congress passed one short-term fix after the other. With this bill, Congress has crafted a long-term solution that provides stable and predictable funding to improve our transportation network, bolster commerce, and put people to work doing it,” Senator King said. “The bill is by no means perfect, but at the end of the day, it’s a step forward for the American people and our country.”

The legislation passed this evening, titled the FAST Act, would provide an increased and stable source of funding for highway, transit, and other infrastructure projects, and is the product of extensive bipartisan negotiations between leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives. If signed into law, the legislation will provide Maine with a five percent increase in highway funding and an eight percent increase in transit funding in the first year of the bill and result in a 15 percent increase in highway funding and an 18 percent increase in transit by the last year. For more information on how the bill will impact infrastructure projects in Maine, click HERE.

Senator King has repeatedly called for a long-term highway solution and has been critical of Congress for passing 36 short-term highway extensions over the past several years, which has only created uncertainty for state governments and threatened the safety of the traveling public.

The legislation also includes provisions that would boost jobs by streamlining the permitting process for major infrastructure projects and boost jobs as well as several other measures supported by Senator King that would deliver regulatory relief to small banks. Importantly, the bill also reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank of the United States, which Senator King has repeatedly called for because the Bank serves as a critical source of export financing for Maine companies looking to sell their products overseas.

“A drawn-out and cumbersome permitting process has delayed critical infrastructure projects, slowed economic growth, and is costing us jobs around the country,” said Senator King. “We need to be in the business of helping to create new jobs, not stifle them, which is why it’s important that this bill streamlines the process to clear unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and keep projects moving forward that will create jobs and build out a world-class infrastructure without compromising environmental standards.”

“I am pleased this legislation also finally reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank, ending months of uncertainty for Maine businesses who didn’t know if they would still be able to turn to the bank for much-needed assistance as they work to sell their products overseas,” added Senator King. “Additionally, with a number of provisions that relieve the small banks and credit unions that help power our local economies of unnecessary regulatory burdens, the bill will support small financial institutions and their customers alike.” 

More specifically, the legislation contains provisions of the Federal Permitting Improvement Act – introduced by Senator King, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) earlier this year, which would streamline and improve the federal permitting process for the largest and most complex capital projects. Businesses looking to undertake large infrastructure projects are currently subject to a massive bureaucratic process involving up to a dozen agencies and approvals, and even after approval, litigation can stall projects for years. These provisions improve the timeliness and predictability of the review process without compromising environmental standards or sacrificing critical regulatory protections.

The legislation includes language that would reauthorize for four years the Export-Import Bank, a critical tool that since 2007 has supported more than $264 million in exports from 13 companies in 12 communities in Maine. Senator King has repeatedly called for the Ex-Im Bank’s reauthorization and, in July, he supported an amendment to the highway funding bill that would have done so. The amendment passed by an overwhelming margin, but the House of Representatives failed to take up the legislation at the time.

The FAST Act also includes more than a dozen financial regulatory relief measures, including several of which are supported by Senator King and which will benefit Maine’s community banks and credit unions. Provisions supported by Senator King include language that would allow highly-rated small financial institutions to qualify for longer on-site examination cycles so that well-run, lower-risk banks spend less time with banking regulators and more time with their customers; as well as language that reduces the costly burden of unnecessary annual privacy notices to customers so long as privacy policies at financial institutions have not changed.

The House of Representatives passed the FAST Act earlier today, and the President is expected to sign it into law.

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