[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2512 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2512

     To establish an emergency transportation safety fund for the 
reconstruction of bridges along the Interstate Highway System, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2014

Mr. McConnell (for himself and Mr. Paul) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish an emergency transportation safety fund for the 
reconstruction of bridges along the Interstate Highway System, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Interstate Bridge Safety 
Fund Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Davis-Bacon Act requires that workers on all 
        federally funded or federally assisted construction projects be 
        paid what is commonly referred to as a prevailing wage, as 
        calculated by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of 
        Labor.
            (2) According to the Congressional Budget Office, if the 
        Davis-Bacon Act were repealed, the Federal Government could 
        save an estimated $12,700,000,000 in discretionary outlays from 
        2015 through 2023.
            (3) These savings could be redirected to the reconstruction 
        of closed and functionally obsolete bridges along the 
        Interstate Highway System, which would improve highway safety 
        and interstate commerce.

                   TITLE I--ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNDING

SEC. 101. REPEAL OF DAVIS-BACON ACT OF 1931 WAGE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 
States Code (40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.), is repealed.
    (b) Reference.--Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
any reference in any law to a wage requirement under subchapter IV of 
chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, shall be null and void.

SEC. 102. EMERGENCY INTERSTATE BRIDGE SAFETY FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the 
United States a trust fund to be known as the ``Emergency Interstate 
Bridge Safety Fund''.
    (b) Transfers to Emergency Interstate Bridge Safety Fund.---
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        regularly transfer amounts equal to the savings achieved 
        through the repeal of the wage requirements under subsection 
        (a) from the capital budgets of each affected Federal agency to 
        the Emergency Interstate Bridge Safety Fund.
            (2) Emergency relief expenditures.--Section 125(c) of title 
        23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
            ``(3) Emergency interstate bridge safety fund.--Amounts 
        deposited into the Emergency Interstate Bridge Safety Fund 
        established under section 102(a) of the Emergency Interstate 
        Bridge Safety Fund Act are authorized to be obligated to carry 
        out, in priority order, the projects on the current list 
        compiled by the Secretary under section 201(b)(1) of such Act 
        that meet the eligibility requirements set forth in subsection 
        (a).''.

       TITLE II--EMERGENCY INTERSTATE BRIDGE SAFETY PRIORITY LIST

SEC. 201. EMERGENCY INTERSTATE BRIDGE PRIORITIES.

    (a) List.--The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with a 
representative sample of State and local government transportation 
officials, shall compile a prioritized list of emergency interstate 
bridge projects, which will guide the allocation of funding to the 
States from the Emergency Interstate Bridge Safety Fund established 
under section 102.
    (b) Criteria.--In compiling the list under subsection (a), the 
Secretary of Transportation, in addition to any other criteria 
established by the Secretary, shall rank the emergency interstate 
bridge projects in descending order, beginning with projects that--
            (1) are part of the Federal interstate highway system;
            (2) involve a bridge that is closed or deemed functionally 
        obsolete by the Federal Highway Administration for safety 
        reasons;
            (3) have a significant impact on interstate commerce;
            (4) would affect a significant volume of traffic; and
            (5) have the greatest overall value to the surrounding 
        community.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit a 
report to Congress that includes--
            (1) a prioritized list of emergency interstate bridge 
        projects to be funded through the Emergency Interstate Bridge 
        Safety Fund; and
            (2) a description of the criteria used to establish the 
        list referred to in paragraph (1).
    (d) Quarterly Updates.--Not less frequently than 4 times per year, 
the Secretary of Transportation shall--
            (1) update the report submitted pursuant to subsection (c);
            (2) send a copy of the report to Congress; and
            (3) make a copy of the report available to the public 
        through the Department of Transportation's website.
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