Mark Szakonyi, Associate Editor | Mar 08, 2012 2:37PM EST
House Speaker John Boehner appears to have given up hope of resuscitating the ailing House surface transportation bill after he said Thursday he would take up the Senate’s two-year bill once it clears the upper chamber, according to The Hill.
The announcement marks a considerable failure for House Republicans, whose five-year, $260 billion plan received criticism from fellow party members for being too costly and from Democrats for expanding domestic energy production. Republicans’ proposal to scale the plan down to 18-months wasn’t successful, either.
“The current plan is to see what the Senate can produce and to bring their bill up,” Boehner told Reuters. “In the meantime, we’re going to continue to have conversations with members about a longer-term approach, which most of our members want. But at this point in time, the plan is to bring up the Senate bill or something like it."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday night that the $109 billion bill could be passed by next week.
Contact Mark Szakonyi at mszakonyi@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @szakonyi_joc.
