Play it safe: Congress approves one-week highway, student loan extension

Soon after passing the highway-flood-student loan bill, the House and Senate approved H.R. 6064, which would extend highway funding and the low student interest rate for one week.

The extension is needed because it is expected to take several days to enroll the larger bill, and the highway and student loan authorizations expire this weekend. Enrollment is the process of preparing the bill for the president's signature, and it will likely take several days.

Therefore, while the House and Senate on Friday approved a two-year highway extension, a five-year flood insurance extension and a one-year extension of the low student loan interest rate, that bill will not take effect until next week sometime, and the one-week extension for highway and loans will be in effect.

After the longer-term bill, H.R. 4348, is enrolled, it will be presented to President Obama for his signature into law, possibly after the July 4 holiday.

The one-week bill does not include any extension for the National Flood Insurance Program, since the NFIP does not expire until the end of July.

The House approved the bill shortly before 2:30 p.m., and the Senate approved the bill shortly before 4 p.m.

— This story was update at 3:59 p.m. to update with the Senate vote.

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