By Jen Covino, WTS-DC 

There has been a flurry of legislative activity focused on the transportation sector in the U.S. House of Representatives in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Peter DeFazio, completed a multi-day markup of the INVEST in America Act, the five-year surface transportation proposal. The $494 billion surface transportation bill was passed out of the T&I committee on a party line vote. It would provide $319 billion of highway investment, $105 billion of transit investment, and $60 billion of rail investment. See the Chairman's Press Release, Fact Sheet, Thematic Summaries, Letters of Support, or State Funding Tables.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi included the INVEST in America Act as a component of a larger $1.5 trillion infrastructure package, the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), which passed the House by a 233-188 vote. The Moving Forward Act would provide support for affordable housing, broadband expansion, schools, clean energy, wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, hospitals, and the U.S. Postal Service. It would provide financing support for state and local governments, permanently reinstating Build America Bonds and Advance Refunding Bonds and expanding the issuance of Private Activity Bonds (PABs). More than two-thirds of the legislative provisions are not fully financed.

From a policy perspective, the bill would promote a “fix it first” approach and maintenance, including addressing the nation’s backlog of structurally deficient bridges. According to the committee, the bill would invest more than $100 billion in transit to “add new routes and provide more reliable service, resulting in better transit options and fewer single-occupant cars clogging highways.” The measure also prioritizes climate resiliency and carbon reduction, providing $1.4 billion in alternative fuel charging infrastructure. House Democrats also seek to develop an electric vehicle charging network and support the adoption of zero-emission cars, vans, and buses. See bill text, fact sheet, or section-by-section summary.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso labeled the Moving Forward Act as a partisan “road to nowhere.” During a hearing, he advocated for Senate passage of the America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act (ATIA), the $287 billion highway bill (S. 2302) that passed the committee in July 2019. ATIA notably includes the first ever “Climate Title” with funding for programs intended to reduce carbon emissions from the sector. Senate Republicans have not yet completed their work on transit or rail titles to accompany the highway bill. U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, held a hearing entitled “Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Public Transportation Stakeholders’ Perspectives” in February before the pandemic started.

The current authorization of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 will expire on September 30, 2020, and Congress will need to find a legislative compromise on a long-term bill or pass a short-term extension. It remains to be seen if President Donald J. Trump and the Senate will have the appetite to pass a long-term surface transportation reauthorization, let alone a $1.5 trillion infrastructure measure. The White House is expected to release its own surface transportation reauthorization proposal soon. The drafting of this proposal is being led by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Infrastructure has typically played a key role in previous economic recoveries, including the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act following the Great Recession; however, the coronavirus pandemic is unlike any other emergency this country has faced in generations. Congressional action on a surface transportation bill will be largely dependent on partisan priorities and members’ political will power leading into the November elections.

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