Introduction of A Resolution Declaring That Public Transit is A National Priority Which Requires Funding Equal to the Level of Highway Funding

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a resolution declaring that public transit is a national priority which requires funding equal to the level of highway funding along with my colleagues Hakeem Jeffries from New York and Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts.

Joining us in this introduction are 30 other members from across the country and dozens of organizations invested in ensuring we build a more just, equitable, and sustainable transportation system in America.

The near 40-year precedent of an ``80-20'' split between highway and transit funding does not reflect our citizens, businesses, and communities' needs for safe, reliable, and convenient public transportation. The split underfunds transit needs leaving too many reliant on deteriorating transit systems with infrequent, inconvenient, and unreliable service.

The 80-20 split was agreed to in 1982, when 1 cent of a 5 cent gas tax increase was dedicated to transit. But since 2008, over $144 billion in taxpayer dollars have supplemented gas tax revenues for highway and transit spending. The user fee is not working as intended, yet the 80-20 funding split persists.

Transit is an essential lifeline for the over one million rural households without a car and millions of Americans of color disproportionately reliant on public transit. 2.8 million essential workers and millions more rely on transit to access their jobs, food, and health care.

In Chicago, CTA trains and Pace Buses are the arteries of our city and they've kept our people moving--especially frontline workers who keep our country moving despite the raging pandemic.

Rebuilding a stronger, sustainable economy will require robust, reliable, and frequent transit and we must fund transit equitably like the vital public good and toll for economic empowerment that it is.

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