Senators Collins, Reed Lead Hearing on Improving the Nation's Infrastructure

Press Release

The American transportation network's current state of disrepair is no secret to the millions of people who regularly navigate potholes, drive over structurally deficient bridges, or are delayed in traffic each year.

The need to make additional investments in our transportation network was the subject of a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee hearing led by U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Jack Reed, the Chairman and Ranking Member, yesterday titled, "Investing in America: Funding our Nation's Transportation Infrastructure Needs." The hearing explored various proposals to increase infrastructure funding, leverage private resources, and make better use of existing federal resources.

"Working with the new administration, we in Congress have a great deal of work to do in developing an infrastructure package to promote economic development, improve the transport of people and products, and create jobs," said Chairman Collins. "The challenge that we face is finding a way to pay for the much-needed infrastructure spending without increasing taxes on those who are least able to afford them or using budget gimmicks that simply lead to more deficit spending and add to our nation's ever-growing debt."

"I commend Senator Collins for holding this important hearing to inform our work to strengthen and enhance our infrastructure. We heard loud and clear that we need substantial federal funding and smart investments to build a safer and more efficient transportation network, not just tax credit gimmicks," said Ranking Member Reed. "This hearing showed that we can find consensus on investing in America's infrastructure."‎

The United States currently faces a backlog of $836 billion in unmet needs for our nation's highways and bridges, and $100 billion is needed for airport infrastructure projects over the next five years. While some progress has been made to reduce the percentage of bridges that are structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, the percentage of highways rated as "poor" quality has increased, particularly in rural areas.

Deficient infrastructure harms the economy and costs American consumers billions of dollars each year. During the hearing, witnesses discussed new and innovative methods to finance much-needed transportation projects, such as vehicle-miles-travelled user fees, passenger facility charges, public-private partnerships, tolling, and expansion of the TIFIA loan program.

Witnesses at the hearing included:

* Dave Bernhardt, Commissioner, Maine DOT, and President of AASHTO;

* Jim Tymon, Chief Operating Office of AASHTO;

* Todd Hauptli, President and CEO of AAAE;

* Ed Mortimer, Executive Director of Transportation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and

* Beth Osborne, Director of Technical Assistance for Transportation of America (T4A)

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