Transportation

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Advances Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization

On May 15, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee approved its MAP-21 reauthorization bill (S 2322). Please visit the CSAC Housing, Land Use, and Transportation page of the CSAC website for an analysis on select provisions of the legislation. Some highlights from the analysis include:

• Provides for a long-term, six-year reauthorization and continues the core structure of MAP 21
• Provides a total of $265 billion for highway programs, which reflects current funding levels with a modest inflationary adjustment
• Leaves to the Senate Finance Committee the task of identifying $18 billion in annual revenue required to fund the measure

Without short-term action, the Highway Trust Fund is predicted to go bankrupt by August and the State, regions, and local governments should anticipate delays in receive federal reimbursements

For our part, CSAC has been advocating, in strong partnership with NACo, on our top priorities for reauthorization. Specifically, we have requested the restoration of the Highway Bridge Program as a core program within any reauthorization measure, but at the very least the creation of a Local Bridge Program set-aside under the STP, or Surface Transportation Program (currently the STP only includes a set-aside for local off-system bridges). In tandem, we are also calling on Congress to restore equity in funding levels between the core programs within MAP 21. Attached you will find CSAC’s letter to the Senate EPW leadership with additional details about these proposals.

S 2322 does make local on-system bridge projects an eligible use under the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP), with a cap of 15% of program funds for these projects. While staff is pleased to see the Senate leadership recognize the importance of local on-system bridges, this modification falls short of our goal. As such, we will continue to work with NACo, our Senators and other Senate allies, and the leadership on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to forward our proposals.

Looking ahead, it is unclear when S 2322 – which is limited to the highway title – will be headed to the floor. The current plan is to do what was done during the last reauthorization cycle, which is to bundle the bill with the transit, safety, and financing titles once the three committees with jurisdiction over these matters have approved their respective bills.