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WASHINGTON — Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the chamber’s third-ranking Republican, said a tax overhaul could solve the short- and long-term funding woes facing the federal transportation system.

U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico in December increased to $95.8 billion, up 5.4% from 2013, and trucks carried about three-fifths of the freight, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Feb. 26.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved Christopher Hart as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on Feb. 26, sending the nomination to the full Senate.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he believes Congress cannot deliver a new transportation funding bill by the end of May and should pass a temporary funding extension as soon as possible.

The recent slump in fuel prices is so far failing to ripple through the U.S. economy as the cost of services such as rents climbs, bolstering the Federal Reserve’s view that inflation will eventually reach their goal.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx’s fiscal 2016 budget pitch to House Republican funding leaders fell flat after several key lawmakers said they would not support the proposal.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx urged state transportation officials meeting here to lobby their members of Congress on the necessity of passing a long-term surface transportation program that will facilitate expansion of the nation’s economy and population.

Scott Darling, acting administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is scheduled to appear March 4 before a Senate subcommittee that has jurisdiction over trucking regulations.

WASHINGTON — A Senate transportation panel will unveil a multiyear highway bill before there is a need to approve a short-term extension of funding authority for highway programs, which expires in late spring, the panel’s chairman told Transport Topics on Feb. 25.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has signed a bill that raises state diesel and gasoline taxes by 10 cents per gallon as of March 1.