Finally: Rustlings of a Reauthorization

First, the House and Senate pledged they'd have a bill marked up by Memorial Day. Then it was definitely going to come in June. (One staffer even told me that they were still planning on it coming "in the spring," so it would be before the summer solstice -- June 21.) But it looks like we might finally get a first glimpse of the fight ahead.

Tomorrow, House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) is "rolling out" the House version of the bill – but only an outline. It's unclear when he's going to formally introduce the bill. Jeff Davis of Transportation Weekly says it "does not appear that the text of the draft bill will be released at or shortly after the Thursday press conference, or will even be released this week."

Davis goes on:

The path forward for the bill is unclear, since House leadership is still not planning to bring the bill to a vote on the floor before the August recess, and the word on the street is that they’re actively asking Mica to hold off on sending a bill to the full Congress.

Meanwhile, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) about to begin a press conference about the need to pass a bill. Is she getting frustrated, too, by all these delays? We’ll bring you coverage of her remarks shortly.