Leaders of the House and Senate agreed this afternoon to terms on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package and a $1.4 trillion federal spending package, ending lengthy negotiations that had lasted for months. Included in the COVID relief legislation was $45 billion for transit, with $10 billion allocated to state departments of transportation for highways.

ATSSA has supported the inclusion of funds for state DOTs throughout the year and made it the main legislative priority in any discussions centered around COVID-19 relief. In addition to making it a main talking point at the ATSSA Virtual Fly-In & Legislative Briefing in September, ATSSA also signed on to multiple letters alongside fellow stakeholders to push for Congress to include these funds.

President-elect Joe Biden will be nominating former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), according to multiple reports.

Buttigieg, who is also the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., rose to national prominence after a surging presidential run in his bid for the Democratic nomination earlier this year. Buttigieg appears to have emerged from among contenders for the position such as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

During his presidential campaign, Buttigieg introduced an infrastructure plan that garnered support across the transportation industry.

The first comprehensive update to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) in a decade is now available for preview in the Federal Register.

The document opens for public comment on Monday.

The Notice of Proposed Amendments for the 11^th edition of the MUTCD contains more than 600 proposed changes, according to a statement from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

As ballots continue to be counted across the country, a number of tightly contested congressional races that the ATSSA Government Relations Team has been tracking, have been declared winners.

Among them was House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D) fended off a challenge from political newcomer Alex Skarlatos to win Oregon’s 4^th District.

Transportation-related statewide ballot initiatives that ATSSA is tracking passed in four states.

The Senate this evening approved a one-year extension of the federal highway bill, which would have expired at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.

The extension was included in a continuing resolution (CR) passed by both chambers to avert a government shutdown. The stopgap bill pushes the deadline to pass the yearly spending budgets for the federal government to Dec. 11.

The Senate approved the action by an 84-10 vote.