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Update October 30, 2015: This bill was co-opted through the amendment process from its original form to serve as the legislative vehicle for highway funding.

Originally, this bill was known as the Hire More Heroes Act, and would have given employers the option of whether or not veterans with other health insurance (TRICARE, DoD, or VA) would be counted in employee totals for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under the ACA, \"large employers\" (50 or more employees) are required to provide health insurance to all employees. Small businesses, however, are not. This bill then served as the legislative vehicle for a group of tax-extension bills commonly known as the EXPIRE Act.

Currently, this legislation is the legislative vehicle for the Senate’s DRIVE Act, which authorizes federal funding for highways and highway safety construction programs for fiscal years 2016-2021.

For transportation infrastructure projects, bridges and large facilities of national importance would be prioritized, as would the Interstate System and National Highway System. Competitive grants would be made available for the funding of regionally important projects.

There are no tax increases in this legislation, and all spending is fully offset with spending reductions or changes in other federal programs. The amount of funding authorized for each state to receive in each fiscal year for highway projects would increase.

Public transportation funding would be made available at a greater level for local and urban projects involving bus facilities, fixed rail systems, while overall funding would be increased by more than $2 billion over previous levels.

The Federal Permitting Improvement Act would be included in this legislation, which enhances coordination between government agencies during the permitting process for projects requiring federal review. It is limited to economically significant capital projects that need investment of more than $200 million. Further, this provision also places time limits on environmental and judicial reviews on covered projects.

","official_title":"An act to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Driver Privacy Act of 2015","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act or the FAST Act DIVISION A--SURFACE TRANSPORTATION\n\n(Sec. 1002) Directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to reduce the amount apportioned for a surface transportation program, project, or activity for FY2016 by amounts apportioned or allocated under any extension of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) for the period beginning October 1, 2015, and ending upon enactment of this Act.\n\nTITLE I--FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS\n\nSubtitle A--Authorizations and Programs\n\n(Sec. 1101) Reauthorizes through FY2020:\n\n certain core federal-aid highway programs; the transportation infrastructure finance and innovation program; the federal lands, tribal transportation, and federal lands transportation and access programs; the territorial and Puerto Rico highway program; and nationally significant freight and highway projects. Requires the expenditure of at least 10% of amounts made available for federal-aid highways and public transporta...","summarized":true,"cost":0,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that this legislation would not increase spending, and would increase revenues by $17 million over the 2016-2025 period.","impact":"Anyone who uses roads and highways, businesses and agencies that repair and manage roads, the Dept. of Transportation, and the HTF administrators.","argument_for":"A six-year funding solution for the nation’s highway system would eliminate the uncertainty that has dragged on for too long. It may not solve all the nation’s transportation problems, but it’s a compromise that is better than the status quo.","argument_against":"This legislation doesn’t do nearly enough to increase funding for highways and other transportation infrastructure because it is unwilling to raise taxes. 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I imagine it would take a lot of strain off our nation's roads.","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":0,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/ce66ed41-e58e-44e2-8111-51f85deaad12"},"body":"Why don't we improve our train systems? I imagine it would take a lot of strain off our nation's roads.","stance":"nay","created_at":"2016-02-10T02:56:42.273Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/ce66ed41-e58e-44e2-8111-51f85deaad12.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr22-114","user_id":"YmqYrwym","endorser_ids":[]}}

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A Six-Year Plan to Fund America’s Highway System