House Republicans Fail to Provide Long-Term Certainty, Punt Highway Trust Fund
From American Concrete Pavement Association; National Asphalt Pavement Association; Association of Equipment Manufactures; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association; Associated Equipment Distributors; National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association; Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute; Portland Cement Association:
The longer Congress delays in making the investments necessary to our highways, roads, and bridges, the more difficult and expensive it will be for our nation to finance this critical national priority.
From Association of Equipment Manufacturers:
…a long-term highway bill is critical to the interests of manufacturers, and another short-term extension would only continue to deprive states of the certainty they need to make needed repairs and execute major capital investment projects.
From American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE):
Congress should aim its sights high to deliver a multi-year bill funded above current baseline levels which is necessary to reduce the nation's bridge, road and transit infrastructure improvement backlog.
From Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition:
…it is long past time to move a long-term bill with funding that is adequate to address the nation's transportation infrastructure needs, and that Congress should force no more delays and no more short-term extensions.
From Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO:
…further inaction will only ensure another cycle of patchwork extensions that will doom Americans to a badly aged transportation system that can no longer support the needs of a dynamic 21st century economy.
From U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
"Kicking the can" has costs: companies cannot plan for hiring or capital expenditures; land, labor, and capital are more expensive as the time value of money increases project costs; projects that need multi-year funding commitments are delayed; and opportunities for economic development and economic growth are lost.
From National Association of Manufacturers:
…Congress must focus on passing a well-funded, multi-year surface transportation reauthorization to ensure our competitiveness domestically and worldwide.
From Trucking Moves America Forward:
Rather than putting up more roadblocks through inaction, Congress needs to pass a fully-funded, long-term highway funding bill that can pave the way for the future of the trucking industry — and America.
Meanwhile, the media is noting the crumbling infrastructure throughout the country:
- News 8 WTNH (Connecticut) – Nat'l Highway Fund Set to Expire, Local Construction Workers Worried
- Huffington Post – Top GOP Senator Blames His Party For Lack Of Highway Funding
- USA Today – Frustration grows with short-term extensions of highway funding
- 22 News WWLP.com (Massachusetts) – Unsafe WMass roads, bridges crumbling
- Miami Herald Editorial – Congress asleep at the wheel
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania) – Pennsylvania rural roads among most deficient in U.S., report concludes
- Journal-Courier (Illinois) – State of roads, bridges a growing concern
- Delaware Online – GOP blind to the nation's transit needs
- Daily Star Journal(Missouri) – Missouri roads approach fiscal cliff
- Concord Monitor Editorial (New Hampshire) – Small infrastructure victories don't cut it
- CBS (New York) – Ashford Avenue Bridge Project Could Suffer If Federal Highway Trust Fund Expires
- Hartford Courant (Connecticut) – Amtrak Crash Sign Of Failing Infrastructure
- The Clarion-Ledger (Mississippi) – State's rural roads crumbling, dangerous
Bottom line: Congress will once again revisit this Republican manufactured crisis in just two months, and threatening jobs and prolonging uncertainty is the best Speaker Boehner and this Republican Congress can do in spite of the urgent need.