America's Public Transportation At Risk

Committee leaders Sen. Baucus and Sen. Grassley are considering a proposal that would essentially eliminate the Mass Transit Account, the nation's only dedicated funding source for public transportation.

It is urgent that you let your Senator know about your concerns about the Baucus-Grassley proposal.  Leaders from national organizations and the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees transit, have expressed objection to the proposal. 

Click here for a sample letter you can personalize

Click here for a letter sent by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

Click here for a Dear Colleague letter sent by the chairs of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Shelby (AL) and Sen. Sarbanes (MD)

Click here for a study of Tax-Credit Bond Financing for Transportation by the Congressional Budget Office

BACKGROUND:

Under current law, of the 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal gas tax, 2.8 cents are dedicated to fund public transportation programs.  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT) are considering a proposal that would retain only .5 cents (or ½ of 1 cent) for public transportation, with the remainder made available to highway construction.  In place of guaranteed funds for public transportation, Senators Baucus and Grassley are exploring options to establish a new financing scheme that would use bonds, (tax-credit bonds), to supply annual funding for future public transportation investments.  This means the federal government would have to use future revenues to pay off these bonds instead of investing in new transit projects.  The proposal would affect funding for most of America's local public transportation systems.

This grab for more highway funds may undermine the long-term viability of public transportation programs, and that low-income, elderly, disabled and other transit-dependent populations will bear the greatest burden.  Nationwide millions of Americans rely on public transportation to get to where they need to go.  Studies in the mid-1990s found that 96% of welfare recipients do not own cars.  In 1997, the Census found that 20% of Americans lived with a physical disability.  And the fastest growing segment of the population are those who are 65 years and older.  These are just some of the Americans who need a reliable, dedicated source of funding to pay for the public transportation services that they depend on, in both urban and rural areas. 

ACTION NEEDED: 

Congress is in recess until June.  Contact your Senator while in district to convey your concerns about the Baucus-Grassley bill and any other efforts that would undermine stable funding for public transportation.

MESSAGE: 

• Removing dedicated funds for transit undermines the long-term viability of our public transportation systems, ultimately placing the greatest burden on low-income, elderly, disabled and other transit-dependent populations.

• Transit and Highway funding programs are mutually beneficial; people using transit cut back on congestion and reduce pollution and wear and tear on roads.

• Any change to the convention of an 80/20 ratio of gas tax revenues for highways and transit would dismantle twenty years of successful federal policy promoting an efficient and balanced surface transportation system.

• Financing public transportation with bonds is a proposal to make an essential element of our transportation system dependent on an untested, unproven, destabilizing funding source.

• The year-to-year instability of funding would deter investment in transit — as it would road building or any other large-scale infrastructure project.

• Long-term federal debt is a poor way to meet ongoing commitments to our nation’s transportation needs.

Senate Finance Committee Members: To find contact info for your Senator in district, visit www.congress.org.  To contact the DC office, call the Capitol Switchboard at 1-800-839-5276. 

AR        Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas)

AZ        Jon Kyl (R-Arizona)

FL         Bob Graham (D-Florida)

IA         Charles Grassley (R-Iowa)

KY         Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky)

LA         John Breaux (D-Louisiana)***

MA        John Kerry (D-Massachusetts)

ME        Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)***

MS        Trent Lott (R-Mississippi)

MT        Max Baucus (D-Montana)

ND        Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota)

NM        Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico)***

OK        Don Nickles (R-Oklahoma)

OR        Gordon Smith (R-Oregon)***

PA        Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania)***

SD        Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota)***

TN        Bill Frist (R-Tennessee)

UT        Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)***

WV       John Rockefeller (D-West Virginia)***

WY       Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming)

***Committee members whose states receive transit funding the top priority, they have the most at stake.

For More Information: Contact Andrea Broaddus at the Surface Transportation Policy Project at 202-466-2636.