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Trump Administration officials and House Democratic leaders ended their negotiations on a COVID relief and economic stimulus package just weeks before the Nov. 3 election, deferring any negotiation on the legislation to the post-election lame-duck session of Congress. For the asphalt pavement industry, that means the lame-duck session will have a host of funding issues to watch. The 72-day continuing resolution, which provided states with about 1/5 of their highway funding (obligation limitation), ends on Dec. 11, 2020.

NAPA will urge Congress to enact a full year transportation appropriation bill during the lame-duck session. Another issue in the mix is the American State Highway and Transportation Officials request for emergency funding relief needed in the wake of depressed state gas tax revenues. NAPA will also be pushing Congress to boost highway funding for next year’s construction season as part of any stimulus package. Any funding issues not addressed in the lame-duck session will get pushed to the 117^th Congress, which gets seated on Jan. 3, 2021.