03/01/17 CAGTC: Summary of 3/1 Commerce Hearing on Connecting America

CAGTC Members,

I am writing today with two updates:

Last night President Trump made his first address to a joint session of Congress, and during it, he spoke about our nation’s crumping infrastructure. The President called for a “new program of national rebuilding,” lamenting that the last “truly great national infrastructure program” was initiated by President Eisenhower. President Trump called on Congress to approve legislation for a $1 trillion investment in U.S. infrastructure to be paid for through both public and private capital. Although the details of the President’s proposal are not yet available, we are happy that there will be a component of federal funding included.

Today the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing titled “Connecting America: Improving Access to Infrastructure for Communities Across the Country.” The Governor of South Dakota, the Mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, the Director of the Utah Department of Transportation, and a representative of The Rural Broadband Association testified.

Top takeaways:

  • The hearing focused largely on rural infrastructure investment needs. Witnesses praised the freight formula program created under the FAST Act and noted the importance of rural infrastructure in delivering agricultural and energy products to market.
  • Witnesses called for increased funding from the Federal Government. The Governor of South Dakota and Director of the Utah DOT stated preference for the Federal government to give states large block grants of funding, allowing states to address their own priorities.
  • The witnesses agreed direct federal investment is essential for transportation projects and discouraged Congress from reliance on public private partnership models in place of investment, emphasizing that such mechanisms do not usually work in rural areas due to low road usage and difficulty generating a revenue stream that is attractive to the private sector.
  • The witnesses expressed frustration with current permitting and project approval processes and called for federal reform.

A detailed summary of witness statements and discussion relevant to CAGTC priorities can be found here.

Best,

Katie Cross
Manager, Member Communications & Policy

Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors
1444 Eye St N.W.
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 828-9100
tradecorridors.org