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Congress sends S.O.S. Boehner, Pelosi, to move multi-year surface transport plan

WASHINGTON — Two hundred and forty-eight members of Congress have sent an S.O.S. letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The letter, sent in early February and only recently made available to the media, asks Boehner and Pelosi to “move a responsibly paid-for- multi-year surface transportation plan that will support much-needed economic growth throughout our nation.”

But as for how to fund construction of new infrastructure and pay for improvements to current roads and bridges, it was the same old story: The letter didn’t suggest any such mechanism.

“We know that our country needs robust transportation infrastructure to compete in the global economy and that without such a network, the United States will be less able to realize future economic growth,” the lawmakers told Boehner and Pelosi in the letter. “Very simply, we support transportation and infrastructure investment because our economy needs a national system to safely move people and deliver goods from place to place.  Our constituents in the manufacturing, construction, agriculture, energy and distribution sectors rely heavily on our network of roads and bridges to move the products that make us competitive around the globe.”

The lawmakers said they were pleased that Congress was able to enact MAP-21, the current surface transportation bill, but were troubled by the significant uncertainty that has plagued federal highway and transportation policy in recent years.

“In the last decade, there have been nine short-term extensions (including one extension of MAP-21). This kind of uncertainty impedes economic growth and makes it difficult for our country to fulfill is competitive potential.”

The lawmakers cautioned against another “kick the can down the road” maneuver to extend for a second time the current surface transportation plan.

“We are united in our conviction that now is the time to end the cycle of short-term extensions by doing the work needed to pass a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill. 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 lawmakers said. “Otherwise, we will not be able to enact a transportation bill that truly meets our country's economic and infrastructure needs.”

Everyone involved in transportation from lawmakers to transportation executives and consumers alike, agree that the country needs to boost the Highway Trust Fund to pay for new roads and fix existing ones.

But no one can agree on how best to do that.

A hike in the federal gasoline and diesel tax is favored by some trucking associations and opposed by others in the industry, but lawmakers are reluctant to raise taxes in the months just ahead of the 2016 presidential campaign.

More tolls roads and public-private partnerships are opposed by most trucking industry stakeholders.

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