Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act

The Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 is a United States Act of Congress, containing in Title I, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1987.

History

The bill was introduced in House by Glenn Anderson on January 6, 1987.
The bill nominally gave power to apportion money to the Secretary of Transportation. It also allowed states to raise the speed limit to on rural Interstate highways.
It was followed by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. The local agencies in California were assured that an equal or not less amount of monies will still be annually apportioned to the counties and cities as they received in 1990–91 under the Federal Highway Act of 1987 under the old Federal Aid Urban and Federal Aid Secondary Program.

Veto and Override

Ronald Reagan notably vetoed this bill, shortly after the Tower commission report on the Iran-Contra incident came out, and he attempted to use the veto override vote as a show of his continued strength and influence over the senate. His stated reason for the override was an excess of funds devoted to mass transit projects and funds for over 100 local transportation infrastructure projects included in the bill. His veto was overriden by a vote of 67-33, the smallest possible margin of victory for a veto override, which requires a 2/3rds vote.