Elaine Chao Commits to Addressing Highway Funding, Modernizing Infrastructure
WASHINGTON — Elaine Chao pledged to collaborate with federal lawmakers on efforts to boost funding for highway projects and modernize the country’s infrastructure network in the coming years during a Senate hearing Jan. 11 examining her qualifications to lead the U.S. Department of Transportation.
As President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead DOT, Chao stressed a commitment to explore every funding tool that would address the federal Highway Trust Fund’s looming funding shortfall. Enhancing states’ access to private capital, through public-private partnerships, was among the tools Chao highlighted. Tapping private investors is a proposal Trump put forward during the campaign.
“It is important to note the significant difference between traditional program funding and other innovative financing tools, such as public-private partnerships,” Chao said in prepared remarks. “In order to take full advantage of the estimated trillions in capital that equity firms, pension funds and endowments can invest, these partnerships must be incentivized with a bold new vision.”
REPLAY: Watch Chao confirmation hearing via c-span.org
Chao indicated the Trump administration would begin to unveil details of an infrastructure funding plan, which Trump said would consist of investing $1 trillion over the next 10 years through tax credits to private firms.
DOT uses the trust fund to help states pay for freight corridors and infrastructure essential for connectivity. The account is projected to be unable to assist states after the five-year FAST Act highway law expires in 2020. Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer told Chao the panel would begin exploring options for ensuring the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund.
Transportation stakeholders point to studies that have found poor and outdated infrastructure contributes to highway congestion that impedes the efficient movement of trucks.
Sen. Inhofe To Elaine Chao: In 30 Years I’ve Never Seen A Nominee “That People Love More Than You.”https://t.co/fnYvbeLMEE — Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 11, 2017
The nominee also pledged to develop a framework for engaging the autonomous vehicle industry if the Senate confirms her nomination. Advancements in self-driving technologies prompted the Obama administration to begin a national discussion on requisite guidelines to oversee the industry.
“The private sector is driving this innovation. They are working with cities and states to demonstrate improvements in the safety and efficiency of autonomous cars and trucks,” Chao said.
She also told the panel she would ensure providing access to mobility opportunities across urban and rural communities. And she pledged to review the Obama-era Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER infrastructure grants, to determine how to optimize access to construction funding.
Chao stressed her experience managing federal agencies prepared her to lead DOT’s regulatory agenda. Married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), she was labor secretary under President George W. Bush, and had served as deputy transportation secretary and deputy maritime administrator.
Missing from the hearing was an in-depth discussion on improving freight mobility, Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) told Chao she would oversee the development of the country’s growing freight network. Thune and his colleagues on the committee suggested to Chao she should expect an easy confirmation in the weeks ahead. The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, sounded the alarm on the country’s deteriorating infrastructure, calling on the nominee to focus her energies on modernizing freight corridors, if confirmed.
“Years of neglect and increased demand have brought us to a point where we can no longer sit idly by and watch our country’s most critical infrastructure continue to deteriorate,” Nelson said.
“We must commit to build the next generation of great American infrastructure,” he added.
More than a dozen transportation groups, such as American Trucking Associations and the Highways Material Group, have endorsed Chao’s nomination to succeed Secretary Anthony Foxx.
