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Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2021

Public Law 117-44 · H.R. 5434 · 117th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Joe Biden (D) on Oct 2, 2021 · Transportation and Public Works

Sponsor: Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR-4)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votesYeaNay

  • HouseRecorded vote: 365 yea, 51 nay365–51
  • SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

This bill extends and revises provisions related to federal-aid highway, transit, highway safety, rail, and other surface transportation programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Among other provisions, the bill

• extends FY2021 enacted levels of funding through October 31, 2021, for federal-aid highway, transit, and safety programs;

• increases the cap from $600 million to $700 million on the amount of funding for nationally significant freight and highway projects and extends authority through FY2022 for DOT to provide funding for such projects;

• revises and extends authority through FY2022 for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to carry out collaborative research on in-vehicle technology to prevent alcohol-impaired driving;

• extends authority through October 31, 2021, for DOT to provide direct loans and loan guarantees for railroad rehabilitation and development near rail stations;

• reauthorizes and extends authority through FY2022 for the Appalachian Regional Commission;

• compensates any federal employee who is furloughed or required to work without pay during the authorization lapse in Highway Trust Fund expenditure authority at the earliest possible date after the lapse ends; and

• extends expenditure authority through November 1, 2021, for the Highway Trust Fund, Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.

Who voted for it

Every House member of the 117th Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 365 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.

365 yea51 nay15 present or did not vote

ProEstablishmentAnti
Economic left–right
More liberalMore conservative

Democrats who voted yea(216)

Republicans who voted yea(149)

Data notes

The House’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 312 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.

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Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Related bills

The record lists no related bills.

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.

  1. Oct 2, 2021Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 117-44.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. FloorFloor · Received in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Oct 1, 2021FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  7. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 365 - 51 (Roll no. 313).House roll call 313
  8. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5434.
  9. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  10. FloorFloor · Mr. DeFazio moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
  12. Sep 30, 2021CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Natural Resources, Science, Space, and Technology, Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in ea…
  13. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

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Amendments

No amendments to this bill are on record.

Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

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Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.