WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate meets in a rare Sunday session this weekend to try and complete work on a six-year transportation funding bill.
Maine Sen. Angus King says he is supporting the bill, after some objectionable funding sources were removed.
"There was a provision in there that involved Social Security," he says. "People were worried about the precedent of taking money from Social Security and giving it to highways. I shared that concern and it is gone."
King says there are also worries that the $47 billion from patchwork funding sources will take away resources that could be used this fall for addressing the automatic budget cuts called the sequester. He says funding highways are as important as ending the sequester cuts, so he is supporting the highway package.
King acknowledges the bill faces an uncertain future in the House, which has approved a short-term plan that would run out in December.
"There is a lot of time pressure to get this bill done in time to get it to the House before the House recesses, so we can avoid a freezing of the highway fund July 31," he says.
