The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure today released the Committee Print of the next surface transportation authorization bill. The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit is set to mark up the Committee Print on Wednesday, June 24. The completed bill will be introduced at a later date.
“Today, the Committee lays out a plan to transform our surface transportation system so that it can meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges,” said Chairman James L. Oberstar (Minn.). “It restructures surface transportation programs to a performance-based framework to cut fatalities and injuries on our highways, bring highway, bridge, and public transit systems to a state of good repair, reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, and support robust investment in our nation’s infrastructure.”
“The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 provides our nation a vision and a path towards a 21st Century transportation system. It will make our highways safer, improve our roads and transit systems, make our businesses more competitive by reducing their costs due to time spent in traffic, and reduce the amount of time the average person spends in gridlock,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. “This is an opportunity to move past broken policies of the past and move toward a more accountable and efficient future.”
A white paper outlining the organizational and policy reforms that will be contained in the new bill was released last week. The white paper, entitled “A Blueprint for Investment and Reform,” and the Committee Print released today are posted on the Committee’s website on the bottom half of the home page under the heading "Issues in the Spotlight": http://transportation.house.gov.
The markup session is also archived on the Committee website: transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingDetail.aspx
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