Infrastructure plan to be unveiled soon

While no specific details have been released, President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hinted at big changes in the administration’s forthcoming infrastructure plan.

As part of the South by Southwest virtual conference on Thursday, March 18, Buttigieg said the infrastructure plan will offer a “once-in-a-century” opportunity to transform transportation in the United States.

“We start with something unglamorous, which is fixing and improving what we’ve already got – there’s been a trillion dollar backlog just in the roads and bridges we already have,” Buttigieg said in an Associated Press article. “But I’ll add there are some things that need to be reduced … sometimes roads need to go on a diet.”

The plan should be released soon, and Buttigieg is scheduled to testify next week at the House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing “The Administration’s Priorities for Transportation Infrastructure.” The hearing will be at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 25.

“Secretary Buttigieg’s appearance before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee couldn’t come at a more consequential time,” House T&I Chairperson Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said in a news release. “Right now, our committee is working on the details of transformational surface transportation reauthorization legislation that I intend to move through our committee later this spring as part of the broader infrastructure push.

“The time to go big and bold on our nation’s crumbling infrastructure has arrived, and I’m ready to turn our conversations with Secretary Buttigieg, as well as President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, into action to finally bring our infrastructure out of the Eisenhower era.”

Infrastructure report card

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to agree that America’s infrastructure needs an upgrade. Land Line’s Tyson Fisher reported earlier this month that the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation a C-minus on its infrastructure report card. Most notable to truckers, the United States received a C on bridges and a D on roads.

The report said 42% of the more than 600,000 bridges are at least 50 years old and that more than 40% of the nation’s road system is in poor or mediocre condition.

Infrastructure plan

Comments from the administration point to a plan that will focus on improving the climate, expanding public transit and becoming more pedestrian and bicyclist friendly.

During his campaign for president, Biden touted a clean energy infrastructure plan that would cost $2 trillion over four years.

While there is bipartisan support to invest in infrastructure, Republicans are concerned about the potential scope of the administration’s package.

“The strong bipartisan support that exists for a surface transportation reauthorization bill and other infrastructure legislation should not extend to a multitrillion dollar package that is stocked full with other ideologically driven one-size-fits-all policies that ties the hands of our states and our communities,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-Wa., said during an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing in February.

In the previous congressional session, the House rolled the $494 billion highway bill into a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package that addressed a wide range of issues, including broadband, drinking and wastewater systems, postal service, clean energy sector, and health care infrastructure. Soon after, Senate Republicans deemed the legislation dead on arrival.

That resulted in Congress failing to approve a multiyear surface transportation bill. Instead, a one-year extension, which expires Sept. 30, was approved.

Trucking issues

Once the plan is unveiled, the talks will quickly move to how it will be funded. OOIDA is already working to fend off any attempts to create a truck-only vehicle-miles-traveled tax.

In March, OOIDA sent a letter to the leaders of Senate Committee on Finance in opposition of a truck-only VMT. The Association also informed lawmakers that inclusion of a truck-only VMT in the next highway bill would likely lead to the legislation’s “ruin.”

“We are disappointed that this controversial and discriminatory proposal has resurfaced, as our industry has consistently supported increasing Highway Trust Fund revenue through equitable increases to existing user fees,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer wrote. “The inclusion of such a divisive policy in the next surface transportation reauthorization would instantly eliminate our support for the bill and likely destroy any hope for its passage.”

Another “poison pill” OOIDA is fighting to keep out of any future highway bill is an increase to the minimum insurance requirement for motor carriers.

Last year, Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., proposed an amendment that called for the minimum insurance requirement to be increased from $750,000 to $2 million.

OOIDA immediately called the amendment a “poison pill” and withdrew its support from the highway bill.

The Association is fighting both measures but is also asking for truckers’ help.

“We know this battle is winnable, but we can’t do it without a groundswell of support from truckers,” said Collin Long, OOIDA’s director of government affairs. “If you’re not picking up the phone and calling your member of Congress to demand they oppose any increase, you’re handicapping our efforts. I’m not blowing smoke when I say it’s going to take every trucker with a stake in the game to stop this from happening. Get on the phone today.” LL