DOT Secretary Foxx Pushes for Long-Term Highway Funding
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will continue to advocate for long-term funding to pay for highway construction projects during an appearance at the National Press Club today.
UPDATE, July 21, 2:30 p.m. EDT: Foxx and 11 former transportation secretaries compiled an open letter urging Congress to enact a long-term fix for the highway trust fund.
Foxx, a former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., has been touring the country to urge Congress to approve a measure that backs transportation programs for several years.
At an event in McLean, Virginia, on July 15, he touted the Obama administration’s four-year, $302 billion proposal, saying, “Before we can get to hiring the men and women who will do that work, we need a long-term solution that allows us to get past the lurching from crisis to crisis.”
Congress has ignored the president’s plan, but the House this week easily advanced legislation that would shore up the Highway Trust Fund for about 10 months. Senate Democrats who manage that chamber have yet to indicate when they would take up either the House bill or similar legislation sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee.
Foxx has told state officials the federal trust fund is projected to run out of money as early as next month. The fund is used to help states pay for road projects.
Its insolvency would require DOT to downsize financial backing for large-scale infrastructure projects, Foxx said. The trust fund’s highway account relies on a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents a gallon that has gone unchanged for more than two decades. As fuel efficiency improves and a younger generation drives less, revenue from the tax has declined.
The Press Club event will start with lunch at 12:30 p.m., with livestream coverage courtesy of press.org to begin at about 1 p.m. EDT.
For breaking news updates from the event, follow Eugene Mulero on Twitter, @eugenemulero.
Secretary Foxx urges Congress to shore up Highway Trust Fund at Press Club. pic.twitter.com/dt1pHQ05oq
— Eugene Mulero (@eugenemulero) July 21, 2014
