Washington, D.C. — On May 17, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released text for its surface transportation reauthorization bill. It provides $580 billion in funding across transportation programs, with 20 percent less funding for transit and rail than the prior surface transportation bill. The bill also proposes an 8 percent increase to funding for highway programs, worsening a long-standing bias for highway spending that benefits oil and gas companies by denying Americans other transportation options. And it repeals or weakens numerous electrification, safety, and community benefit programs established or improved through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
In response, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, senior director of Climate and Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following comments:
As Americans struggle with skyrocketing costs as a result of the Trump administration’s war in Iran, this proposal would only worsen the affordability crisis. Cutting funding to clean transportation—including electric school buses, port cleanup, and safety programs—and then penalizing electric vehicle drivers with new federal taxes will raise costs for Americans trying to switch to more affordable electrified transportation. As written, this bill is a handout to big oil. It preserves fossil fuel dependency and increases gasoline costs and pollution instead of offering real solutions for Americans’ transportation needs.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].