March 18, 2010 President Obama signed into law H.R. 2847, the HIRE Act, which includes an extension of surface transportation funding and Highway Trust Fund spending authority through December 31, 2010.

On March 17, 2010, the Senate gave final approval to a bill known as the "HIRE Act" containing seven transportation provisions including an extension of authorization for federal highway and transit programs through Dec. 31, 2010, as well as providing $19.5 billion to the Highway Trust Fund. This vote concurs with House amendments and sends the legislation to President Obama.

12-31-09 A Department of Defense appropriations bill (HR 3326) that includes a 67-day extension of highway and transit authorization through February was signed into law by the president on Dec. 21, 2009. It is the third short-term extension since the 2005 transportation law known as "SAFETEA-LU" expired Sept. 30.

Congress tacked the transportation authorization extension onto the defense measure because the House and Senate were again unable to reach agreement on a longer-term measure. SAFETEA-LU's second extension expired Dec. 18; a continuing resolution through Dec. 23 kept federal highway and transit programs operating over the weekend until Obama signed the defense measure.

This is the longest SAFETEA-LU extension to date. The first extension covered the month of October and the second extension was good for 48 days.

Before adjourning for the year Dec. 16, the House of Representatives passed a job-creation bill (HR 2847) that contains a provision extending highway and transit authorization through Sept. 30, 2010, the end of the federal fiscal year. This measure would restore the highway program's baseline funding level for FY 2010 from $30 billion to $41.546 billion, which would make up for the billion dollars per month lost thus far under the short-term extensions. The bill also would provide a $19.5 billion infusion to the Highway Trust Fund. The Senate did not act on the job-creation bill before it adjourned for the year Dec. 24. The Senate is now in recess until Jan. 19.

State DOTs are unable to make long-term plans for ambitious projects due to the uncertainty over future federal transportation funding.

September 25, 2009 - Congress put off a decision on the new six-year federal transportation spending bill. On September 23, 2009, HR 3617, by a 335-85 vote, the U.S. House passed a three-month extension to the existing law that expires Sept. 30. This keeps the current six-year, $286 billion program running through Dec. 31

The three-month extension bill now heads to the Senate, which has not yet voted to extend the funding law by 18 months, as asked by the Obama administration.

The bill does not stop the cancellation of the 2005 transportation law known as SAFETEA-LU to expire September 30, 2009. This will take away $8.7 billion in funding from state transportation agencies throughout the United States.

July 31, 2009 the US House and Senate passed HR 3357, which approves the $7 billion transfer for the Highway Trust Fund from the federal government's General Fund to ensure state transportation departments will continue receiving full reimbursements for federal-aid highway projects through September, the end of the current federal fiscal year. The Highway Trust Fund anticipated a $3.2 Billion deficit by August 2009.