Foxx to Talk Transportation Funding at May 7 Senate Hearing
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will make his first congressional appearance next week since unveiling a four-year, $302 billion transportation proposal this week, in an effort to press lawmakers to advance a transportation bill this year.
Foxx, who will appear before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on May 7, will review funding options for highway projects through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan program, tolling and other means.
Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said when it comes to funding highway projects, “every option for increased infrastructure investment should be on the table.”
“While there is no magic solution to our transportation problems, we need to come together — for the future prosperity and safety of this nation — and move beyond the status quo,” Rockefeller said in a statement.
For years, congressional transportation leaders have been scrambling to find ways to keep the federal Highway Trust Fund solvent.
The account, which provides funds to states for large-scale infrastructure projects, will run out of money by August, according to DOT projections, and the 2012 highway law, MAP-21, expires at the end of September.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said she plans to introduce a six-year highway authorization bill next week. Boxer said she has been considering excise taxes on vehicle tires as a way to supplement the trust fund.
