Kind to Speaker Boehner: Bring Long-Term Surface Transportation Bill to House Floor
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ron Kind (WI-03), Chair of the New Democrat Coalition, joined House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), Ranking Member on Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus G. K. Butterfield (NC-01), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Judy Chu (CA-27), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Keith Ellison (MN-05) and Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03), Co-Chair of the Blue Dog Coalition Kurt Schrader (OR-05) and Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Linda Sánchez (CA-38) to send a letter to Speaker John Boehner, urging him to bring a long-term surface transportation bill to the House Floor for a vote.
“We write to you in order to request that the House take up a long-term surface transportation funding bill when it returns from the May district work period,” the letter states. It continues, “A long?term surface transportation reauthorization bill that comprehensively addresses the Nation’s significant highway and public transit needs must be enacted. Anything less than a long-term reauthorization – which until recent years characterized the way in which Congress legislated in this critical area – will deprive state transportation departments of the predictable funding stream and policy certainty they need to plan and budget effectively for highway, transit, and pedestrian projects.”
Click HERE or see below for the text of the letter:
Dear Mr. Speaker:
We write to you in order to request that the House take up a long-term surface transportation funding bill when it returns from the May district work period. Any such bill, we believe, ought to be crafted through bipartisan work, much as we did when the House passed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act by a vote of 412-4 a year ago.
Investment in infrastructure has a significant effect on economic growth and the creation of good jobs. Businesses want to invest private capital where they can connect to efficient transportation networks in order to move goods to market and access their workforce. By ensuring a sustainable and long-term funding source for repairs and improvements to our nation’s roads, rails, bridges, seaports, airports, and broadband networks, Congress can encourage businesses to invest here in America and create jobs in manufacturing and other sectors that pay well and open doors of opportunity for workers.
While our nation’s jobs recovery over the past six years has been unprecedented – with more than 12 million private sector positions added since January 2009 and the unemployment rate decreased from a high of 10% that year to just 5.5% this March – many Americans are still without work or are seeking opportunities to move up into jobs with better pay and benefits. That’s why job creation must remain our highest domestic priority in the 114th Congress – and passing a long-term surface transportation bill is critical to this effort.
With the Highway Trust Fund’s authorization expiring at the end of this month, Congress has a pressing reason to look for ways to address a key component of our infrastructure investment. The Congressional Budget Office informs us that the current gasoline tax is inadequate to meet the funding requirements of the Trust Fund now and into the future.
Congress will have failed to govern responsibly if, at the end of May, it repeats the short-sightedness it demonstrated last summer when it chose to extend existing surface transportation policy for less than a year rather than craft and enact a long-term reauthorization that reflects current transportation needs and challenges in our Nation’s suburbs, cities, and rural communities. A long?term surface transportation reauthorization bill that comprehensively addresses the Nation’s significant highway and public transit needs must be enacted. Anything less than a long-term reauthorization – which until recent years characterized the way in which Congress legislated in this critical area – will deprive state transportation departments of the predictable funding stream and policy certainty they need to plan and budget effectively for highway, transit, and pedestrian projects.
We hope you will work with us to ensure that bipartisan legislation supporting robust, long-term surface transportation funding can reach the Floor in a timely manner.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05)
Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)
Judy Chu (CA-27)
Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03)
Ron Kind (WI-03)
Linda Sánchez (CA-38)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
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