President Obama today signed the "jobs" legislation, which the Senate approved yesterday thanks to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½'s continued advocacy and an effective grassroots lobbying effort. The bill, known as the "HIRE Act," includes the following provisions of importance to the highway construction industry:
- Extends highway program authorization through December 31, 2010 at current funding levels.
- Provides additional revenue to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the first quarter of 2011 by restoring $19.5 billion in interest payments foregone on the HTF's previous cash balances.
- Restores $12 billion in highway spending authority that was cut on September 30, 2009 due to an $8.7 billion budget rescission in SAFETEA-LU and a subsequent rescission of $3.2 billion.
- Authorizes payment of interest on future HTF balances.
- Alters the way in which long-standing fuel tax exemptions provided to state and local governments are accounted for, which are projected to increase HTF balances by about $1.7 billion annually, for a total of $9.8 billion over six years.
- Provides $4.6 billion in additional authority for Build America Bonds which have been used extensively by state and local governments to fund infrastructure projects, including highway and bridge projects.
- Extends section 179 expensing thresholds so that taxpayers may elect to write-off up to $250,000 of certain capital expenditures in 2010 in lieu of depreciating those costs over time.