While Congress remains stalled on a long-term plan for funding highways, state lawmakers and governors aren’t waiting around.

In one of their last decisions before adjourning for a month, the House backed a bill that would extend spending authority for transportation programs through Oct. 29, and replenish the federal Highway Trust Fund with $8 billion.

The U.S. Senate agreed Wednesday to take up a sweeping transportation bill a little over a week before states will face a cutoff of highway and transit aid in the middle of the summer construction season.

An ambitious legislative agenda unravels as time runs out on the session.

The board agreed it was better to enact its own sales tax to be used within the county’s borders rather than contribute more to a metro-wide sales tax pool for transit projects.

The governor and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk are united in calling for new revenue dedicated to transportation and pressing House Republicans to share a “real” plan of their own.

The package is likely to face resistance from House Republicans, who unveiled their own transportation plan last week

Incoming House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee Chairman, Republican Rep. Tim Kelly, says roads and bridges in greater Minnesota would be a top priority going into the upcoming session.

The Obama administration is warning states that cutbacks in federal aid will start as soon as the first week in August if lawmakers don’t act on the federal Highway Trust Fund.

For fans of road and bridge improvements, the 2014 legislative session was sort of like winning the consolation prize instead of the big stuffed animal in the ring-toss game at the State Fair.