On February 11, 2015, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the Obama Administration’s proposal for a six-year, $478 billion reauthorization of the nation’s highway, transit, and passenger rail programs. Several House members criticized the President’s proposal, particularly the idea of taxing overseas holdings of U.S. corporations to pay for the bill. The Secretary admitted that the proposal would not be a permanent fix to the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), and that a new funding source would need to be found once the six-year life of the bill expired.
It is important to note that several proposals are beginning to emerge to provide long-term revenues to the HTF, and the concept of repatriation has gained momentum in the Senate with a bipartisan proposal to provide funding through a repatriation of off-shore corporate earnings, albeit at a much lower tax rate than what is currently proposed by the Obama Administration. Secretary Foxx also announced during the hearing that next week he will lead a bus tour beginning in Florida and ending in Washington, D.C. to highlight the need for greater federal investment in the next surface transportation bill.
RCRC recently submitted comments to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) outlining our MAP-21 reauthorization priorities, including the need to restore dedicated funding for the High-Risk Rural Roads program and Highway Bridge Program funding for local on-system bridges. RCRC will also be attending the upcoming National Association of Counties’ Annual Legislative Conference and has meetings scheduled with key Congressional members and staff to discuss the need for these critical rural transportation programs.