Transportation For America » Economic Recovery Package Is First Step in Rebuilding 21st Century Infrastructure

Economic Recovery Package Is First Step in Rebuilding 21st Century Infrastructure

January 29, 2009
By Transportation for America

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	Contact: David Goldberg 202-412-7930 david.goldberg@t4america.org Ben Grossman-Cohen 202-478-6185 bgrossman-cohen@mrss.com

Washington — Shelley Poticha and Geoff Anderson, Co-Chairs for the Transportation for America campaign, today issued a statement in response to this evening’s vote on the House Economy Recovery and Revitalization Act:

“The passage of the Economy Recovery and Revitalization Act in the House of Representatives this evening marks a significant achievement for the new Congress. Transportation for America applauds the House’s efforts to bolster and stimulate America’s struggling economy, in part by shoring up our transportation system to meet our nation’s 21st Century needs.

Many provisions in the House bill serve to put Americans back to work and set the stage for the green energy future President Obama has repeatedly called for. For example, the bill includes $12 billion in funding for public transit including $2.5 billion to build new capital transit projects introduced as an amendment by Reps. Nadler (NY), DeFazio (OR), Lipinski (IL), McMahon (NY), Ellison (MN) and Perlmutter (CO) today, and supported by House leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA). This emergency funding could not come at a better time for transit agencies facing unprecedented challenges — including record number ridership as well as budget cuts — during this economic downturn, and will go a long way to creating jobs and stimulating the economy.

We also applaud the groundbreaking transparency measures included in the House bill that will ensure recovery funds are properly monitored for fraud and conflicts of interest.

As the economic recovery negotiations move to the Senate, there are several remaining challenges left unanswered by the House that the Senate must address in their version of the bill. This includes adding criteria to ensure road and highway funding is prioritized for fixing our crumbling infrastructure. Without explicit language prioritizing a fix-it-first approach to infrastructure investment written into the legislation, federal funds could be wasted by adding new highways to a system already fraught with repair needs, and we will simply be digging ourselves a deeper hole of oil dependence even as investments elsewhere in the bill seek a way out.

Transportation for America calls on leaders in the Senate to increase funding for transit to the $12 billion passed by the House of Representatives and to ensure that strong accountability provisions for how transportation funds are used are included in their version of the bill.”