Surface Transportation Reauthorization

"“There is no other piece of legislation before the Congress that is more capable of jumpstarting our economy and providing jobs than a fully funded six-year transportation and infrastructure bill.”

July 27, 2010 Press Release -- Mica, LaHood: Gas Tax Increase Dead

The law that provides funding and sets the policy for the federal highway, transit, and highway safety programs expired in October 2009. The Obama Administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress have been unable to determine a means to finance and move a long-term Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill since these programs expired and as a result the programs have been operating under a series of short-term extensions, the most recent of which keeps the programs operating until December 31, 2010.

The unpredictability associated with operating under short-term extensions has caused state DOTs and public transit agencies to delay major construction projects, robbing the U.S. economy of thousands of new jobs that are needed to get our economy back on track.

The nation needs a robust six-year surface transportation authorization bill that includes the following priorities:

Stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund: The federal gas tax that funds our nation’s surface transportation programs is becoming more and more obsolete every day. As our cars and trucks become more fuel efficient we use less and less fuel, resulting in less revenue coming into the Highway Trust Fund. We need to explore alternatives to the gas tax to fund these programs in the future.

Better Leveraging our Revenue Sources: The federal government and states need to place a priority on better leveraging their existing revenue sources. We need to establish a National Infrastructure Bank that can support billions of dollars worth of transportation projects. In addition, we need to provide states the flexibility they need to address their unique transportation challenges by establishing innovative financing options so they can better leverage their existing funding sources and take advantage of private sector expertise and capital.

Cutting Red Tape & Expediting Projects – The 437 Day Plan: It takes an average of seven years to obtain all of the approvals necessary to begin a standard highway construction project. That is seven years before a shovel even goes in the ground. Republicans will continue to work to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic red tape so that highway and transit projects can be built in half the time and taxpayer money can be spent more efficiently. If we can rebuild the bridge in Minneapolis that tragically collapsed in 2007 within 437 days, we can certainly speed up the process for all highway and transit projects.