WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Despite Rep. Jim Oberstar’s insistence that a sweeping transportation reauthorization bill be passed by Oct. 1 when the old law expires, things are not looking good for the Minnesota Democrat.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said during a hearing Thursday that she, like the Obama administration, favors an 18-month extension of the current law.

“We have no consensus on how to fund a transformative bill,” Boxer said. “We do not have a consensus, nowhere close.”

Boxer specified that the lack of a consensus -- and not a crammed legislative calendar (her committee will also be tackling climate-change legislation) -- was the reason for moving more slowly.

“If I had a consensus on how to fund this and I could put it together in two to four weeks, I would be there,” Boxer said.

Last week, Oberstar, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, unveiled details of a six-year, $500 billion transportation overhaul, which represents a 38 percent increase above current spending levels. The announcement came at about the same time that the administration said it would like to proceed more slowly.

Oberstar’s plan calls for a major reorganization of the Department of Transportation and the way transportation and infrastructure projects are funded.

“There is an old saying, ‘No helmsman is ever tested in calm waters,’ Oberstar said during a markup of the House bill this week. “Well, the administration’s announcement last week stirred the waters and roiled them up and we are sailing forward.”

The current system is powered by the Highway Trust fund, which is projected to run dry this summer for the second year in a row.

The Obama administration’s extension would essentially pump about $20 billion into the fund to keep it solvent for the next 18 months while the details of the larger bill, including how to pay for it, are worked out.

If the fund is not replenished in the short term, money stop flowing to states and projects will halt.

“Payments to states could be delayed as we debate how to close the growing gap,” Boxer said. “That is a terrible signal.”

But Oberstar and others on the House transportation committee have said that an extension would prompt states to opt for simple, short-term projects as opposed to more transformative endeavors that employ more people.