Obama Set to Sign 5 Year, $305 Billion Transportation Bill
December 4th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate both approved a five-year, $305 billion highway, transit and railway authorization bill. The overwhelming, bipartisan vote was 359-65 in the House and 83-16 in the Senate. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law later on today. Thank you, infrastructure supporters, for contacting your members of Congress, which certainly helped secure this victory!
In the run-up to the vote, ASCE leadership urged adoption of the legislation known as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The FAST Act provides nearly $233 billion for highways, $49 billion for transit and $10 billion federal passenger rail. By the end of the bill’s five-year duration, highway investment would rise by 15% and transit spending would grow by nearly 18%. The FAST Act is the longest surface transportation authorization bill since the enactment of a previous five-year bill in 2005.
The bill includes:
- Creation of a dedicated $1.25 billion freight program to help ensure federal investments are targeted at improving U.S. economic competitiveness;
- Providing $900 million per year for large-scale projects under a new, nationally-significant freight and highways program;
- Cutting the TIFIA program from $1 billion annually to around $300 million per year. TIFIA helps leverage billions of dollars in private sector capital for investment in our nation’s infrastructure;
- Innovation initiatives, such as establishing a national program to explore surface transportation funding alternatives to the fuels tax; and
- Investment in transit by creating a new research and deployment program, increasing funds for fixed guideways, and establishing a new bus facility program.
Conference Committee Meets on Highway & Transit Bill
November 19th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Yesterday, the joint House & Senate conference committee on the surface transportation authorization legislation met in what will likely be its only public meeting before the looming December 4 deadline to finalize work on a bill. The conference committee chairman, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) kicked-off the meeting by stating, “There is plenty of common ground between the [House & Senate] proposals to allow us to reach an agreement that both [chambers] can willingly support.” The lead House Democrat on the committee, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), underscored the importance of achieving an increase in overall funding in the final bill. “I’m hopeful to get higher levels of spending on an annual basis and if funds are so limited that we have to reduce the term of the bill, it’s an option I think should be looked at,” said DeFazio. The committee announced a timetable to final action on a bill, which includes finalizing the conference agreement by November 30 and having a House vote on the bill by the December 4 deadline. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will be able to act before the December 4 target or if they will need a week extension to approve the legislation and present it to President Obama for his signature. Either way, all members of the committee seem hopeful that a final agreement will be reached very soon and that they can craft a measure that will receive the necessary votes in both the House and Senate to be signed by the president. ASCE, along with other groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, believes a five-year program that includes significant funding increases, rather than a six-year bill that only maintains the status quo, should be the final goal of the conference committee. That sort of legislative package will help create jobs and grow the economy in the years ahead.Tell Congress to Go Big on Transportation
November 17th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The House and Senate are currently meeting to decide a big question when it comes to the future of the nation’s surface transportation program: Should funding levels be increased in order to improve and modernize the nation’s roads, bridges and transit system, or should funding levels stay flat for the next six years while the conditions of our aging infrastructure only further deteriorate? ASCE’s answer is pretty clear in a letter we sent to Capitol Hill today: Congress has the means and capability to increase funding levels and they should not squander this opportunity.
While we disagree with his hesitancy to hold a vote in the House on increasing the federal motor fuels tax – the correct way to fund the current highway and transit bill – credit goes to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) for working to include a provision in the House bill that provides an additional $40 billion to the program. ASCE, along with other groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, believes that the additional money should go towards crafting a five-year program that includes significant funding increases, rather than a six-year bill that only maintains the status quo.
Status quo funding:
• Is what results in our nation’s roads and transit systems receiving a “D” grade and our bridges receiving a “C+”;
• Costs the average American family $1,060 per year each year until at least 2020 due to inadequate roads, bridges and transit systems; and
• Will cost the American economy more than 876,000 jobs, and suppress the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by $897 billion in 2020.
Funding increases would allow the House and Senate to produce a bill that would:
• Maintain a strong TIFIA program that can help leverage billions of dollars in private sector capital for investment in our nation’s infrastructure;
• Create a dedicated freight program to help ensure federal investments are targeted at improving U.S. economic competitiveness;
• Improve innovation, which is vital to extending the life cycle of infrastructure assets and making our transportation infrastructure more efficient; and
• Deliver some of the major infrastructure projects that have currently been sitting on the sidelines due to a lack of funding.
The time is now to send a message to Congress regarding the need for increased investment. Call your House member and Senators, and use the hashtag #FixTheTrustFund on social media to urge them to increase funding for transportation in the coming days.
Five Year Highway & Transit Bill with Funding Increases Better Option
November 16th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Last week, transportation stakeholders sent a letter to the House and Senate surface transportation conference committee in support of a robust five year highway and transit bill that would increase investment levels. The House-passed bill includes a $40 billion offset which could help increase investment levels if the duration of the bill were reduced from six years to five. A budget analysis conducted by the Eno Center for Transportation estimates that if the money is evenly distributed between highway and transit programs, that a five year bill with a seven percent funding increase in fiscal year 2016 and a three percent annual funding increase thereafter would be the result. On Monday, ASCE along with a larger coalition sent a letter to conferees in support of increase funding for the federal TIFIA program. The TIFIA program provides federal credit assistance in the form of direct loans, loan guarantees, and standby lines of credit to finance surface transportation projects of national and regional significance. The Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Innovative Program Delivery notes that for every dollar in federal investment through TIFIA, the program can deliver ten dollars in credit assistance which can be leveraged into thirty dollars in overall transportation infrastructure investment. The House and Senate have named most of their conferees, with the remaining House members likely to be named by the time the first public conference committee meeting takes place this week. Monday, the House unveiled a two week extension of the current law until December 4 to allow the conference committee time to complete their work. Until the conference committee produces a final bill, ASCE remains engaged in a targeted advocacy push to educate member of the committee on ASCE’s key positions. Please continue to check this blog regularly for issue updates over the coming days.Infrastructure in the News: Innovation and Investment
November 13th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
With one week left until the House and Senate must negotiate on a compromise between the two pending transportation bills, the DRIVE Act and the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform Act (STRRA), our infrastructure’s future continues to take center stage. ASCE and a group of 39 other transportation groups and unions wrote a letter to the House and Senate surface transportation conference committee in support of a five-year highway and transit bill that will increase investment levels. They noted that, “While the reliability of future federal highway and public transportation funds is a critical benefit of a multi-year reauthorization bill, such predictability alone is not sufficient to drive needed surface transportation improvements.” When it comes to predicting the future of our nation’s infrastructure, many wonder what that will look like. Articles in Forbes, DCInno and Athens Banner-Herald emphasized the need to not only invest in infrastructure, but to think strategically about how and where investment should be made. Will the rise of smart cars (autonomous vehicles) play into how we invest in our infrastructure? While questions like this can only be hypothesized, these articles suggest the importance of considering how technological advancements will impact our infrastructure needs down the line when planning funding. Infrastructure trends featured in #GameChangers are examples of how innovation is changing the way infrastructure is designed and built and can help us better envision the future. While projections of our nation’s future infrastructnure landscape have marked this week’s headlines, these ideas cannot get too far without a stable, federal funding source. Hopefully Congress can compromise on a bill that provides increased funding to give states the certainty they need to ot just maintain but modernize our nation’s infrastructure.House Passes Six-Year Highway & Transit Bill
November 6th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Yesterday, newly-minted House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) shepherded through his first piece of major legislation with bipartisan passage of a six-year, $325 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill. The Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform (STRR) Act of 2015 cleared the House by a vote of 363-64. A last-minute amendment was added to STRR that secured an additional $40 billion in revenue from an unused Federal Reserve account. This means that while the House bill is now funded for a full six-years, it still does not increase highway and transit funding levels over the current amount.
Following the bill’s passage, ASCE President Mark W. Woodson, P.E., F.ASCE, released a statement saying, “While the House-passed bill provides six years of stability for the nation’s road, bridge, and transit programs, it fails to increase funding to levels that are adequate to properly maintain our infrastructure.” Mark went on to state that, “ASCE is disappointed that House leadership prevented a vote on raising the federal gas tax – a policy solution that would have provided long-term funding and certainty that states desperately need to move forward with their transportation projects.” ASCE endorsed multiple amendments that were offered to raise the gas tax, including one by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), however none of those amendments were allowed to receive a full vote on the House floor.
An amendment that was defeated, which ASCE weighed-in against, was a sense of Congress resolution introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in support of the concept of devolving the federal transportation program to the states.
Some highlights of the House bill include:
• Multi-year program certainty that will help states and localities better plan and deliver projects;
• Accelerated project delivery reforms aimed to improve collaboration between agencies and create deadlines for agency action(s);
• Providing grants to states for continued and expanded pilot testing of future road user fee collection systems;
• A new competitive grant to address bus and bus facility needs;
• Increased focus on funding for roadway safety infrastructure and on the safety needs of rural roads; and
• An option for localities to bundle small projects such as bridges to increase efficiency.
The House vote follows previous Senate action in July on its surface transportation bill, which provided only three years of funding although at much higher levels. Now the House and Senate will work to negotiate a compromise before the looming November 20 deadline. ASCE will be reviewing the House and Senate bills to determine which provisions we favor to be included in any final agreement. On funding, ASCE urges a final bill be multi-year with sizable funding increases for highway and transit programs. Be sure to check this blog regularly in the coming days and weeks to get more updates on how you can help our advocacy effort to #FixTheTrustFund.
Hidden, But Not Forgotten: The Engineering Role in Legacy Site Remediation
November 5th, 2015 | By: Whitford Remer
Gold King Mine Spill Emergency Retaining Ponds. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
House Readies for Action on Surface Transportation Bill
October 29th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Yesterday, Congress enacted a short-term extension of current highway and transit program authority before the looming deadline of October 29. The current authorization and solvency of the federal Highway Trust Fund will now expire on November 20, which gives Congress about three more weeks to conclude a few important remaining steps in the process of completing work on a surface transportation bill:
- Next week the House will take-up and likely pass its own six-year transportation bill which provides flat-line funding for the next three years;
- Immediately thereafter, the House and Senate will convene a conference committee and work quickly to produce a compromise bill;
- The House and Senate will then have to pass an identical bill through each chamber before it can be sent to President Obama for his signature, hopefully before the November 20 deadline.
New Highway Bill Proposed; Nation’s Patience Wearing Thin
October 23rd, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
With just six days left until MAP-21’s expiration, all eyes are looking to the U.S. House to pass a long-term surface transportation bill. Yet, even if they do so by next week, another extension of MAP-21 will be necessary in order to iron out differences between the House and Senate-passed bills. Earlier this week, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee passed the bipartisan Surface Transportation Re-authorization and Reform Act. According to The Hill, the bill would authorize spending $261 billion on highways, $55 billion on transit and approximately $9 billion on safety programs over the course of six years. However, the House has not yet identified the source of the additional billions of dollars necessary to support this level of investment. It is critical that the House pass this bill now in order to reach an agreement with the Senate on a final, compromise legislative package. While ASCE supports continued funding for highway and transit programs included in the bill, increased long-term investment would, “provide states with greater certainty that the federal government is a trusted partner in transportation.” Many citizens have responded to the latest bill with disappointment. Op-eds in Engineering News-Record, Bloomberg, Baltimore Sun, Herald Independent and The Southern share common frustrations with the bill’s failure to significantly increase investment and Congress’ inability to make headway towards finding a funding solution. States will be forced to react to potential insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund in November. Michigan’s House proposed a transportation funding package that would devote an extra $1.2 billion for roads from a dividend of sources including registration fees, increased gas taxes and tax relief through a Homestead Property Tax Credit. And states like Georgia are considering postponing transportation projects altogether for the upcoming winter months. Congress’ decision on this bill will have ripple effects on our nation’s transportation network and ultimately our economy. ASCE needs you to contact your House member and urge support of the House bill so funding can be addressed in conference with the Senate. Tell your Representative to support a six-year transportation bill with increased investment.House Unveils Surface Transportation Bill
October 19th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation & Infrastructure Committee unveiled a six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill. The bipartisan legislation, titled, the Surface Transportation Re-authorization and Reform Act (STRRA) of 2015, contains three years of flat-level funding for highway and transit programs and will be marked-up by the committee this Thursday. In rolling out their bill, legislative sponsors have stated the importance of its provisions to reform existing programs, refocus those programs on national priorities, provide more flexibility and certainty for state and local partners, and emphasis on transportation innovation.
ASCE believes that status quo funding levels for surface transportation, as is provided in STRRA, are inadequate. Currently this underinvestment costs the average American family about $1,000 from their budget each year from now until 2020 due to the current road, bridge and transit conditions. ASCE believes that members of the House should utilize every available opportunity to attempt to increase funding levels for highway and transit programs beyond where they currently exist in STRRA.
Despite the inadequate funding levels, STRRA does contain policy items that ASCE supports, including:
- Multi-year program certainty that will help states and localities better plan and deliver projects;
- Accelerated project delivery reforms aimed to improve collaboration between agencies and create deadlines for agency action(s);
- Providing grants to states for continued and expanded pilot testing of future road user fee collection systems;
- A new competitive grant to address bus and bus facility needs;
- Increased focus on funding for roadway safety infrastructure and on the safety needs of rural roads; and
- An option for localities to bundle small projects such as bridges to increase efficiency.
