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Jul 5, 2005 11:19 AM

Action on the six-year highway spending bill before Congress has been extended yet again -- now for the eighth time -- through July 19, 2005.

The House and Senate voted June 30 for the extension. The decisions follow earlier pleas for passage from Rep Don Young (R-Alaska) and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.

The bill lingers in conference committee where House and Senate negotiators have failed to reach agreement.

The previous comprehensive authorization bill expired over 20 months ago and recently was extended to June 30, 2005.

Young, conference committee chairman, predicted June 9 that an agreement could be reached by the committee by the June 30 deadline and the legislation sent to President Bush for consideration.

Mineta made an argument for the administration's $284 billion proposal in a June 7 letter to the conference committee.

The White House has said the President will veto any bill that increases spending beyond the $284 billion in the proposal, but the Senate has added an additional $11-billion, upping the amount to $295 billion.

To see the bill, the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users, and its movement through Congress, click here.