On March 15th, the Highways and Transit Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be holding a hearing titled “FAST Act Implementation: State and Local Perspectives.” Gary Thomas will be testifying on behalf of both APTA as well as Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). For more information on this (including a live webcast of the hearing), please click here.

Senate Appropriations Holds Transportation Infrastructure Needs Hearing
On March 8th, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development held a hearing titled “Investing in America: Funding our Nation’s Transportation Infrastructure Needs.” To view the hearing in its entirety, please click here. Witnesses included representatives from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, American Association of Airport Executives, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Transportation for America.

Senate Passes Legislation to Repeal MPO Consolidation Rule

Last night, the U.S. Senate passed, by unanimous consent, legislation to repeal the December 2016 final rule from the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) that would require many local metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in the same region to merge. The bill now goes to the House where it could eventually be approved for the President’s signature. To view the bill in its entirety, please click here.

APTA sent several letters to the Congress and the Administration the last two weeks outlining industry priorities as work on the FY 2018 Administration budget proposal, completion of the FY 2017 appropriations process, and tax reform begins in earnest. We encourage you to use these letters as a template for your own letters to your elected officials.

On March 3rd, APTA sent a letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Cochran, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairman Frelinghuysen, Ranking Member Lowey, and all members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. In it, APTA reinforced the importance of fully appropriating funding levels authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. It is crucial that Congress pass full-year funding, instead of another continuing funding resolution (CR), before the current CR expires on April 28, 2017. To read the letter in its entirety, please click here.

On March 7th, APTA sent a letter to U.S. DOT Secretary Elaine L. Chao regarding the Department’s upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budgetary recommendations. This letter again emphasized the importance of the Administration proposing to fully fund public transportation programs at levels authorized in the FAST Act, including general fund programs. To read the letter in its entirety, please click here.

On March 8th, APTA sent a letter to the leadership of the tax-writing committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Chairman Hatch, Ranking Member Wyden, Chairman Brady, and Ranking Member Neal. This letter focused on the importance of preserving current law for municipal bonds, the commuter tax benefit, alternative fuel benefits, and the need for a sustainable funding fix for the Highway Trust Fund and the Mass Transit Account. To read the letter in its entirety, please click here.