National Association of Counties Statement on House Introduction of Infrastructure Bill

Washington – The Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The five-year, $494 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill includes $319 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, $105 billion for Federal Transit Administration and $60 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration. It contains several county priorities, including:

• $49 billion dedicated to local infrastructure
• Increasing, to over $1 billion, the off-system bridge set-aside, and
• Establishing new competitive grant programs for transportation and infrastructure through the U.S. Department of Transportation, including a $600 million Community Transportation Investment discretionary grant program designed to support local infrastructure projects
• Creating a program to address and eliminate at-grade rail-highway crossings

National Association of Counties (NACo) Executive Director Matthew Chase said:

Counties own and maintain 45 percent of the nation’s roadways and nearly 40 percent of all public bridges. We are also involved in the vast majority of public transportation systems. We invest significant resources in surface transportation infrastructure and need a reliable federal partner to work with us to help connect people and places, especially as we begin to restore our economy.

“During these politically polarized times, infrastructure can be a bipartisan issue. We appreciate the efforts of lawmakers in both parties in the House and Senate on this step toward providing much-needed investments in local transportation infrastructure. We look forward to working with our federal partners to support surface transportation priorities that are vital to our economy and helping our communities thrive.”

Learn more about NACo’s transportation and infrastructure priorities here.