Highway Coalition Urges Congress to Finalize Appropriations
Land Line
Mark Schremmer
January 24, 2022
In a letter to congressional leaders, the American Highway Users Alliance said more work needs to be done in order to fulfill the promise of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The coalition noted that the House and Senate have yet to resolve their differences to finalize negotiations for 2022 appropriations, including for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and is relying on another continuing resolution through Feb. 18.
“Without a full-year appropriations bill, we anticipate that states, local governments and public transit agencies will not be able to access the IIJA’s roughly 20% funding increase for highway formula programs and more than 30% increase for public transit formula programs, along with any new transportation initiatives, that Congress provided for in the IIJA,” the American Highway Users Alliance wrote.
The coalition is advocating for a full-year appropriations bill and says that a delay of almost six months since the beginning of the fiscal year is “unacceptable and will cause significant project disruptions.”
“Given the hard work and effort that Congress put into the IIJA, we urge you to put the much-needed infrastructure and safety investments envisioned in this bipartisan package to work as soon as possible,” the coalition wrote. “We do not make this request lightly, but if Congress again finds itself unable to finish the THUD appropriations bill by Feb. 18, we ask that Congress includes an anomaly to provide full obligation limitation levels in any future continuing resolutions in order to fully honor the IIJA’s funding levels for all transportation-related programs.”
ABA is a member of the Highway Coalition.