Like the countdown on a ticking time bomb in the latest Hollywood blockbuster, time is running out for US transportation infrastructure funding. Yet political bickering in Washington, D.C., is preventing a new funding bill from riding to the rescue and some lawmakers are openly wondering if the hero will save the day this time.
In March, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx presented Congress with a new $302 billion transportation bill. Called “GROW AMERICA” — which stands for “Generating Renewal, Opportunity and Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency, and Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Communities throughout America” — the four-year bill would replace the current transportation bill, MAP-21, which expires at the end of September.
If lawmakers don’t pass a new bill before the current bill expires, it could put at risk the resources of the Highway Trust Fund, which is the primary source of federal transportation funding.
US Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) was not optimistic of the chances of a new bill being passed anytime soon. He blamed Washington gridlock for the impending crisis.
“In the Senate today I am hesitant to use the words ‘produce legislation’,” Blunt told members of the American Trucking Association recently.
The Obama administration’s bill calls for part of its funding to come from a one-time $150 billion transition revenue from pro-growth business tax reform, a provision that many conservative Congressmen are unwilling to embrace.
Other components of the bill — which has been dubbed by the White House as the “Vision for the 21st Century Infrastructure” Act — include:
- Spending an additional $87 billion to address the nation’s backlog of crumbling bridges, highways and transit systems
- Creating millions of new jobs to improve the nation’s economy and poise the US to be more competitive globally
- Increasing safety requirements for many transportation industries, including raising the civil penalties that the National Transportation Safety Board can collect from automakers that fail to react quickly to vehicle recalls
- Streamlining the project approval and permit process while delivering better outcomes for communities and the environment
- Reinforcing efficient and reliable freight networks to support trade and economic growth
- Creating incentive to better align planning an investment decisions to comprehensively address regional economic needs while strengthening local decision making
The bill also includes $10 billion for a dedicated freight funding program over four years to pay for a multi-modal freight grant program for railways, highways and ports.