DALLAS — A bipartisan group of almost 300 House members sent a letter to their congressional leaders on Tuesday pushing for passage of a long-term federal transportation bill before the current funding extension for the Highway Trust Fund expires on May 31.
The letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., which was backed by 46 transportation and other groups, was signed by 285 House Democrats and Republicans.
"We are united in our conviction that now is the time to end the cycle of short-term extensions that kick the can down the road by doing the work needed to pass a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill," the legislators said in the letter. "To make this happen, we support efforts to develop a long-term sustainable revenue source for our nation's transportation network as soon as possible."
The letter was written and circulated in Congress by Reps. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., Dan Lipinksi, D-Ill., Tom Reed, R-N.Y., and Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J.
The letter was endorsed by AAA, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Society of Civil Engineers, the NAACP, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and 40 other supporters.
Congress in late July 2014 extended the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund through May 31 with an $11 billion transfer from the general fund. Since 2008 lawmakers have transferred more than $60 billion into the HTF from other sources of funds, as gasoline tax collections fell below expenditures for highway and transit projects.
The new federal transportation bill must be fully funded with no need for further transfers and extend funding for several years so state transportation departments can plan large projects, the lawmakers said in the letter.
"In the last decade, there have been nine short-term extensions of highway and transit programs," they said. "This kind of uncertainty impedes economic growth and makes it difficult for our country to fulfill its competitive potential."
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told the House Transportation Committee last week that reimbursements to states for transit and highway projects could be reduced and delayed if a new transportation measure is not in place before the HTF extension expires May 31.
