Highway Bill Passes Committee with Modified DRIVE Safe Act Included
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted 25-3 to pass their version of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill, or Highway Bill (S. 2016) on Wednesday, June 16. The legislation would authorize about $78 billion for rail, freight and safety programs for the next five years. During the markup, Members of the Committee considered several amendments, including a modified version of the DRIVE Safe Act (S.659) from Sen. Todd Young (R-IN). Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) worked with Sen. Young to include the updated amendment in S. 2016 that will support a Department of Transportation younger driver pilot – with parameters similar to the civilian pilot that former Secretary Chao was working to finalize. The American Trucking Association agreed to support this compromise and said, “we feel strongly that this option represents the coalition’s best chance to see a younger driver pilot survive a conference committee and become law.”