US surface transportation: the 11 December 2026 extension cliff

FY2027 continuing appropriations end (P.L. 119-103 sec. 106(3)) - same day as the surface transportation extension end

deadlineCongress140 Stat. 987read from the documentsource

Sec. 106(3) sets "December 11, 2026"; sec. 101(12) continues Transportation-HUD at FY2026 rates until then. Carried separately because a new appropriations act can end this date without touching the authorization, and the reverse.

THE CATALYST: the surface transportation extension ends (P.L. 119-103 sec. 3002(2) "extension end date"). Resolution: a multi-year reauthorization, another extension, or a lapse

deadlineCongress140 Stat. 987read from the documentsource

Resolves on enacted law, never on a floor vote or press: REAUTHORIZED if a multi-year surface transportation authorization is enacted on or before 11 Dec 2026; EXTENDED if a further extension law moves the extension end date; LAPSED if neither exists on 12 Dec 2026. The lead records the resolution on this row (metadata.resolution) with the public law's URL. The same day is the FY2027 continuing-appropriations end date (sec. 106(3)), so the two cliffs coincide.

Highway Trust Fund expenditure authority date moves to 12 Dec 2026 (P.L. 119-103 sec. 3201(a), 26 U.S.C. 9503)

deadlineCongress / Treasury140 Stat. 987read from the documentsource

Sec. 3201(a) replaces 1 Oct 2026 with 12 Dec 2026 in 26 U.S.C. 9503(b)(6)(B), (c)(1) and (e)(3); 3201(b)-(c) do the same for the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank trust funds. One day after the extension end date.

IIJA sec. 11101 Highway Trust Fund amounts that would have lapsed 30 Sep 2026 stay available until 30 Sep 2027 (P.L. 119-103 sec. 3104)

deadlineCongress / FHWA140 Stat. 987read from the documentsource

Sec. 3104 keeps the lapsing sec. 11101 amounts available "until September 30, 2027" - the outer edge of the money already authorized, whatever happens on 11 Dec 2026.

IIJA surface transportation authorization period ends (end of FY2026)

deadlineCongress135 Stat. 429read from the documentsource

FY2026 is the last fiscal year Division A authorizes; P.L. 119-103 sec. 3002(4) defines the extension period as beginning 1 Oct 2026, the day after this one.

Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 (P.L. 119-103) enacted: Division C, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2026, continues the IIJA programs past 30 Sep 2026

statuteCongress140 Stat. 987read from the documentsource

Header: "PUBLIC LAW 119-103 - SEPT. 2, 2026, 140 STAT. 987". Sec. 3101(a): covered programs "shall continue in effect through the extension end date", funded at the extension fraction of FY2026 levels (sec. 3101(b)-(d)). Division J advance appropriations of the IIJA are not extended - advocacy groups put the gap near $37 billion (Safe Streets and Roads for All, BUILD, bridge formula); that figure is theirs, not the statute's.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approves H.R. 8870, the BUILD America 250 Act - a five-year surface transportation reauthorization

decisionHouse T&I Committeeread from the documentsource

The release (22 May 2026) says the committee approved the bill "following a 14-hour legislative markup"; it gives no tally - 62-2 is from Holland & Knight (9 Oct 2026). As of that note the bill "has not yet advanced to House floor consideration", and none of the three Senate authorizing committees (EPW, Banking, Commerce) had produced text or held a markup. A trade-press headline saying "House passes" is wrong: committee only.

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enacted (P.L. 117-58): Division A, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021, authorizes highway, transit and safety programs for FY2022-FY2026

statuteCongress135 Stat. 429read from the documentsource

Header: "PUBLIC LAW 117-58 - NOV. 15, 2021, 135 STAT. 429". Division A begins at 135 Stat. 443; e.g. sec. 11101(a)(1)(E) is the FY2026 authorization for the national highway programs - the last fiscal year the Act authorizes.