The U.S. Senate passed a bill yesterday that will fund transportation infrastructure projects in Illinois and across the country for the next two years. The U.S. House now will consider the $109 billion package that continues the 30 year-old practice of using federal gas tax revenue toward both highway and public transit projects.

The Republican-controlled House had proposed no longer using gas tax revenues for public transit, which infuriated transit advocates, and Illinois lawmakers of both parties. But the House now looks willing to back the Senate bill. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) called on the House to pass a bill that enjoyed bipartisan support in the Senate.

The surface transportation bill is normally a massive undertaking that allocates money over a period of five, not two, years.