Durbin: Senate's Long-Term Transportation Bill Will Create Illinois Jobs

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Senate has passed a long-term, bipartisan transportation bill that provides the certainty that businesses and state governments, like Illinois, need to plan critical infrastructure projects and create good-paying jobs. Since the previous long-term transportation bill expired in 2009, Congress has passed 33 stop-gap measures to keep the country's major transportation and infrastructure programs from shutting down.

Today's Senate-passed Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act reauthorizes surface transportation programs for six years through fiscal year 2021. Specifically, the bill promotes continued growth in the highway and transit funding, includes funding for Positive Train Control implementation and creates a national freight rail program. Illinois receives nearly $2 billion per year from the Highway Trust Fund.

"This long-term transportation bill reflects a bipartisan effort to provide businesses and state and local governments with more certainty so they can plan for the future," said Durbin. "I do not agree with every provision in this bill, but it will mean more federal funds for Illinois and the majority of Illinois' infrastructure priorities have been protected. There is a substantial increase in bus programs which benefits the entire state. For transit systems, like Chicago's CTA, I worked across the aisle with Senators McConnell and Boxer to increase the federal funding commitment to commuters. I hope the House does its part over the next few months so we can finally send a long-term transportation bill to the President for his signature."

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