Infrastructure Bill Expected in Summer, Rep. Graves Says
President-elect Donald Trump’s “massive” infrastructure plan probably will come “sometime this summer,” Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said at an aviation industry lunch in Washington.
Graves, chairman of the House Transportation Committee panel on highways and transit, said Trump’s plan to spend a trillion dollars may be unrealistic.
“I do not think it will be that big. We just simply can’t afford it,” Graves said. It can’t be all done “through public-private partnerships as the president-elect is talking about.”
Work on legislation to regulate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and autonomous vehicles will be “running parallel” to each other this year, said Graves.
Graves said the aim is to have UAV legislation that is “very adaptable” to changing technologies and doesn’t “hamstring” industry.
“The goal is to not overregulate and not overlegislate, but we have to be safe,” said Graves.
Graves said work on FAA reauthorization likely will begin “in the spring” and will include a proposal to overhaul the air traffic control system. Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster “wants to start out with a very open slate” on ATC overhaul and says the issue is “a little bit of a minefield,” Graves said.
