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Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act
Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act
Other short titles
Federal Public Transportation Act of 2015
Transportation for Tomorrow Act of 2015
Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2015
Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015
Track, Railroad, and Infrastructure Network Act
Railroad Infrastructure Financing Improvement Act
Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2015
Driver Privacy Act of 2015
Safety Through Informed Consumers Act of 2015
Tire Efficiency, Safety, and Registration Act of 2015
Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act
Export-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2015
State Licensing Efficiency Act of 2015
Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act of 2015
Long title
An Act to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes
Introduced in the Houseas "Hire More Heroes Act of 2015" (H.R. 22) byRodney Davis (R-IL) on January 6, 2015
Passed the House on December 3, 2015 (359-65)
Passed the Senate on December 3, 2015 (83-16)
Signed into law by PresidentBarack Obamaon December 4, 2015
The Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act is a funding and authorization bill to govern United States federal surface transportation spending. It was passed by Congress on December 3, 2015, and President Barack Obama signed it on December 4.[1][2] The vote was 359-65 in the House of Representatives and 83-16 in the United States Senate.[1][3]
The $305 billion, five-year bill is funded without increasing transportation user fees.[4] (The federal gas tax was last raised in 1993.[5]) Instead, funds were generated through changes to passport rules, Federal Reserve Bank dividends, and privatized tax collection.[1][6]
In Section 6021, Congress asked the Transportation Research Board to conduct a study of the actions needed to upgrade and restore the Interstate Highway System to fulfill its role as a crucial national asset, serving the needs of people, cities and towns, businesses, and the military while remaining the safest highway network in the country. The subsequent 2019 report, "Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future," recommends actions Congress could take.[7]
The Act also includes several revisions to federal securities law, including Section 76001 of the Act. This provision creates a new Section 4(a)(7) of the Securities Act of 1933, a new exemption from registration under that act intended to facilitate secondary trading of private company securities among accredited investors. By doing so, Congress and the President hoped to support smaller, nonpublic companies with their capital raising efforts by providing more liquidity for their securities, with reduced regulatory burdens.[11][12]