ARTBA President Weighs in on Final Senate Passage of Highway Trust Fund Patch

"It is incumbent on the Congress to now focus full-bore on... enacting a long-term, sustainable revenue solution for the Highway Trust Fund before the end of this year."

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The following statement was issued by Petee Ruane, president and CEO, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) in regards to passage of Highway Trust Fund legislation in the Senate:

“We commend the House and Senate for preserving the continuity of federal highway and transit funding to the states with a short-term revenue patch. That, no doubt, temporarily saved many Americans their jobs. We want to be clear, however, that we find no reason for anyone to celebrate what amounts to a last minute first down pass.

“It is incumbent on the Congress to now focus full-bore on the end zone — enacting a long-term, sustainable revenue solution for the Highway Trust Fund before the end of this year.  That will allow the Congress to then focus on developing and passing a long-term surface transportation program reauthorization bill before the eight-month May extension deadline that was just set expires. There is no reason why a funding solution needs to wait for a reauthorization bill. That’s putting the cart before the horse.

“Otherwise, we’ll no doubt see a repeat of this same process next spring with yet another package of budget gimmicks while the 2015 construction season hangs in the balance.

“Americans deserve better than this on a core responsibility of the federal government.”

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