Boxer: Act on Long-Term Highway Bill Immediately
Less than a week after she announced she would not seek another term in the Senate, California Democrat Barbara Boxer urged GOP leaders to turn their attention to funding the country’s aging transportation system.
“There is a growing chorus from states in recent months that the Highway Trust Fund is in serious trouble, and much-needed transportation projects are in peril,” Boxer said in a statement Jan. 14. “I again call on Republican leadership to immediately drop the Keystone tar sands pipeline bill, which would create only 35 permanent jobs, and instead turn to a long-term transportation bill that will support millions of jobs and restore certainty for state and local governments and the construction industry.”
Last year, as chairwoman of the transportation policy-writing Environment and Public Works Committee, Boxer led the panel’s passage of a multiyear highway bill. But the full Senate did not take up her measure. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who took over the EPW panel from Boxer this year, has told reporters he would look to advance a multiyear highway bill this year that, not surprisingly, reflects GOP priorities.
The federal Highway Trust Fund account was propped up last summer through temporary funding set to expire in May. Congressional transportation leaders have yet to officially propose a sustainable funding plan for the account. The trust fund is used to assist states with large-scale infrastructure projects, and transportation agencies in Arkansas and Tennessee have announced they intend to delay highway construction projects because they are unsure sufficient federal funds will be available.
Next week, the Senate is expected to continue to consider a Keystone pipeline bill opposed by the White House. Many large industries, including trucking, support the pipeline’s construction.
