WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats say they plan to take up a bill to extend federal highway programs next week, even though they are still figuring out how to pay for them.
The Senate Finance Committee approved raising about $10 billion to make up a shortfall between the $109 billion the bill proposes to spend and the money raised through federal gasoline taxes, the principal source of highway funds. The funds would be raised over 10 years even though the bill lasts two years.
Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who is the committee's chairman, also promised Republicans he will find a replacement for a provision that changes how inherited IRA accounts are taxed. That provision accounts for nearly half the funds proposed to make up the shortfall.
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