AGC participated in a stakeholder meeting with House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) this week where he updated the group on his plans for moving forward with multi-year transportation reauthorization legislation. Chairman Mica advised that the House Republican leadership has given the green light to finding additional Highway Trust Fund revenue sufficient to maintain current funding levels for the highway and transit programs over the next six years. While an increase in the motor fuels tax has been ruled out and no other specific revenue sources have been identified, this was nevertheless greeted as a very positive development.
Until now the House has been proceeding on a policy of limiting the funding in a six year transportation bill to the revenue that is currently projected to come into the Highway Trust Fund. That would result in a 30-35 percent drop in funding from current levels. That policy was included in House rules established at the beginning of Congress and in the House passed budget resolution. According to a Transportation Weekly report on the meeting, “One Republican source said that given the persistently high unemployment rates, the surface transportation bill may become the centerpiece of Republicans' alternative agenda to the President's proposed jobs bill.”
Chairman Mica also reiterated his intention to include significant program reforms in his legislation to streamline environmental reviews, expedite project delivery, eliminate unnecessary programs and consolidate others to allow more state discretion in making investment decisions.
For more information, please contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.
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