Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act: Difference between revisions

| acts amended = [[Securities Act of 1933]]

| committees =

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.<ref name="TheHill">{{cite news |last1=Laing |first1=Keith |last2=Carney |first2=Jordain |date=December 3, 2015 |title=Senate sends $305B highway bill to Obama |url=http://thehill.com/policy/finance/262049-senate-sends-highway-bill-to-obama |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |accessdate=December 4, 2015}}</ref><ref name="TheHill2">{{cite news |last=Laing |first=Keith |date=December 4, 2015 |title=Obama signs $305B highway bill |url=http://thehill.com/policy/finance/262171-obama-signs-305b-highway-bill |work=The Hill |accessdate=December 4, 2015}}</ref> The vote was 359–65 in the House of Representatives and 83–16 in the United States Senate.<ref name="TheHill"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frittelli |first1=John |title=Federal Freight Policy: In Brief |date=December 14, 2018 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |location=Washington, DC |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44367.pdf |accessdate=22 December 22, 2018}}</ref>

The $305 &nbsp;billion, five-year bill is funded without increasing transportation [[user fee]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usa.streetsblog.org/2015/12/02/5-year-300-billion-fast-act-will-extend-transpo-policy-status-quo-to-2020/ |title=5-Year, $300 Billion "FAST Act" Will Extend Transpo Policy Status Quo to 2020 - |website=Streetsblog USA|publisher= |date=December 2, 2015 |access-12-02date=August 25, 2021}}</ref> (The federal [[fuel tax|gas tax]] was last raised in 1993.<ref>[{{cite web |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/gastax.cfm |title=When did the Federal Government begin collecting the gas tax? - Ask the Rambler - Highway History -|agency=Federal FHWA<!--Highway BotAdministration generated|access-date=August title25, -->]2021}}</ref>) Instead, funds were generated through changes to passport rules, [[Federal Reserve Bank]] dividends, and privatized tax collection.<ref name="TheHill"/>

In Section 6021, Congress asked the [[Transportation Research Board]] (TRB) 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," recommendsrecommended actions Congress could take.<ref>{{Cite book |lastagency=National Academies of Sciences|first=, Engineering, and Medicine |url=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25334/renewing-the-national-commitment-to-the-interstate-highway-system-a-foundation-for-the-future |title=Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future |date=December 6, 2018-12-06 |language=en}}</ref>

* [[Emigrant Savings Bank]] would have been exempted from certain provisions of the [[Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Carter |first=Zach |date=December 1, 2015 |title=Congress Is About To Hand This Bank A Ridiculous Gift |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/emigrant-savings-bank-highway-bill_565e1967e4b072e9d1c3d10a |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |accessdate=December 4, 2015}}</ref> This was not included in the final bill that was passed into law.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-114publ94/html/PLAW-114publ94.htm |website=www.govinfo.gov |title=114th Congress Public Law 94 |accessdate=22August 25, 2021 |publisher=U.S. Government AprilPublishing 2019Office}}</ref>

* 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.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=David Lynn|author2=Anna Pinedo|title=FAST Forward: A Summary of the Securities Law Provisions of the FAST Act (client alert)|journal=MOFO Jumpstarter|date=December 7, 2015|url=http://www.mofo.com/~/media/Files/ClientAlert/2015/12/151207FastForwardSecurities.pdf|accessdate=21 January 21, 2016|publisher=Morrison Foerster}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=SecondMarket|title=Secondary Trading Markets|url=https://www.sec.gov/info/smallbus/acsec/slides-acsec-meeting-030415-secondary-trading-tierney.pdf|website=Securities and Exchange Commission|accessdate=21 January 21, 2016}}</ref>