Despite more headline-grabbing news regarding President Trump’s personal attorney and U.S. relations with North Korea, there has been subtle yet steady progress surrounding infrastructure legislation in recent days.
02-28-2019 President Donald Trump renewed his call for a major infrastructure investment during his State of the Union address on Jan. 5, but offered no details on his plans as he urged Republicans and Democrats to work together to pass legislation to rebuild and revitalize the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
02-06-2019 The New Year will usher in a new chapter of the Trump Administration that will have wide-ranging consequences for NATSO’s policy priorities. Here is an overview of NATSO’s top legislative issues and their outlook for 2019.
01-02-2019 Incoming House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said Dec. 5 that he plans to propose a national vehicle miles traveled (VMT) pilot program.
12-05-2018 The House Republican conference on Nov. 30 unanimously voted to elect Rep. Sam Graves to be ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the 116th Congress. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) will serve as Chairman.
11-30-2018 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Nov. 14 that he hopes the next Congress can pass an infrastructure package, but that the same challenges in securing funding will dog any proposals, Politico reported.
11-15-2018 Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who is set to become Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the 116th Congress, said Nov. 6 that a major infrastructure package funded by real dollars would be his first order of business in January. Current surface transportation law is set to expire in 2020 and infrastructure is largely viewed as one issue where bipartisan agreement will be possible next year. Of importance to truckstops and travel plazas, Rep. DeFazio spoke about the shortcomings of the $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan put forth by the Administration in early 2018, saying it was full of “pretend stuff” such as privatization and asset recycling, which could very easily lead to tolling and rest area commercialization.
11-07-2018 The House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit capped off a series of Congressional hearings on infrastructure March 7, this time exploring long-term funding options for infrastructure.
03-08-2018 House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) strongly advocated for private financing as a means of funding infrastructure projects during a Subcommittee hearing Oct. 11, demonstrating a willingness to support policies that would lead to the commercialization of Interstate rest areas and threaten the truckstop and travel plaza industry. During a House Highways and Transit Subcommittee hearing to explore solutions for boosting infrastructure investment and stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund, Rep. Shuster spoke positively about Connecticut’s decision to allow a private company to lease its on-highway travel plazas to finance upgrades to the facilities as well as Australia’s asset recycling program, which funds new infrastructure and revitalizes existing infrastructure through the sale or lease of public assets.
10-12-2017 Thirteen Democratic Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee urged Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao July 27 to reconsider DOT’s approach to the infrastructure grant program known as INFRA, arguing that recent revisions distort the objectives of the program and rewrite Congressional intent.
07-27-2017 U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) introduced two bipartisan bills that would use revenues from tax reform to finance infrastructure.
03-24-2017