Voinovich Secures Dem Promise to Hold a Senate Vote on Transpo in 2010

Compelling infrastructure news out of the Senate last night: The long-delayed successor to the 2005 federal transportation law could come to a vote sooner than the spring 2011 timetable sought by the Obama administration, thanks to a promise secured by Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) in exchange for his vote in favor of the Democratic jobs bill.

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) (Photo: UPI)

Voinovich joined four other GOP senators, including newly elected Scott Brown (R-MA), in voting with Democrats to end debate on a $15 billion jobs bill that transfers $20 billion to the nation's highway trust fund, keeping it solvent until the end of 2010.

But in a statement released just after his vote, Voinovich explained that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made a commitment in exchange for the Ohioan's support:

Voinovich's statement -- which he passed out paper copies of to reporters after last night's vote, according to the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim -- tracks with Boxer's comments at a Los Angeles town meeting on Friday, when she vowed to advance her version of a new long-term federal transport bill before the end of the year.

Setting the end of 2010 as the new timetable for a Senate vote on transportation policy would effectively commit Democrats to agreeing on a source of funding that would offset new six-year legislation in the range of $450 billion to $500 billion.

House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) has estimated that about $140 billion in new revenue would be needed to close the gap between anticipated federal gas-tax revenue and the price tag of replacing the 2005 transport law with a new bill.

Could the answer to the Democrats' transportation financing conundrum be a post-election session (often dubbed a "lame-duck") after this November's midterms?