Schumer, Gillibrand Project New York Mass Transit Funding and Block House Efforts to Gut Transit Formula; Bill Now Headed to President's Desk for Signature
Press Release
Dear Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Hatch:
We are writing to encourage you to reject any efforts to take away dedicated revenues from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund. The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 created a dedicated Mass Transit Account within the Highway Trust Fund, which have helped urban and rural areas maintain, expand and improve their public transportation systems.
The House Ways and Means Committee passed legislation last week abolishing the Mass Transit Account and removing all fuel tax funds for mass transit and other transportation projects that reduce congestion or improve air quality. Even more troubling, the Ways and Means Committee bill takes funds already deposited to the Mass Transit Account this year and transfers them to the Highway Account. This bill represents a radical departure from decades of dedicated multimodal transportation funding and will greatly decrease the ability to move goods and people through metropolitan areas.
Our national surface transportation system is one of the largest, most dynamic systems in the world. Limiting the highway trust fund just to roads will make it more difficult for states to efficiently move commuters, reduce congestion and maintain a world-class transportation network. Instead, we encourage you to continue long-standing precedent and dedicate a fair share of the new revenue in your bill to the mass transit account.
We understand the difficulties your Committee faces in crafting bipartisan legislation funding our surface transportation system. SAFETEA expired October 1, 2009. We need to find the revenue necessary to move our transportation system forward and your Committee's work is invaluable to achieving that goal. Unfortunately, the House Ways and Means Committee has decided to pursue a partisan attack on mass transit that will limit transportation options for millions of Americans.
Thank you for the consideration of our views. We look forward to working with you to providing our country with a transportation system that will keep us competitive in the 21st century economy.
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