19 Democratic Governors to Congressional Leaders: Pass a Transportation Bill Now

19 Democratic Governors to Congressional Leaders: Pass a Transportation Bill Now

 In Rare Unanimous Letter, All Dem. Governors Call for Congress to Act on Long-Term Bill that Increases Transportation Funding

 Governors: ‘Short-run, patchwork solutions by Congress will not do’ 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in a rare unanimous letter, all 19 Democratic governors urged House and Senate leaders to take action on a long-term transportation bill that increases transportation funding.

“States need long-term certainty in order to make key investments in significant transportation projects,” the governors wrote. “That kind of certainty requires a robust and long-term federal commitment. Short-run, patchwork solutions by Congress will not do.”

The governors sent the letter Monday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The letter comes three days before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is set to consider a surface transportation reauthorization bill.

In the letter, the governors called for an increase in transportation investment, citing a study from the American Society of Civil Engineers that bringing transportation infrastructure into good repair by 2020 would require $1.1 trillion in investment.

“Governors cannot avoid the difficult choices necessary to maintain and improve the multimodal transportation networks in our states,” the governors wrote. “The current level of funding is insufficient to invest in America’s infrastructure in a way that strengthens our security and economy. … We urge you to act this year to advance a long-term proposal that sets our country on a path to bring our infrastructure back to a state of good repair.” 

The letter was signed by all 19 members of the Democratic Governors Association, marking the first unanimous letter by Democratic governors in several years.

The letter was signed by governors: Steve Bullock (MT), Dan Malloy (CT), Steve Beshear (KY), Jerry Brown (CA), Kate Brown (OR), Andrew Cuomo (NY), Mark Dayton (MN), Maggie Hassan (NH), John Hickenlooper (CO), David Ige (HI), Jay Inslee (WA), Jack Markell (DE), Terry McAuliffe (VA), Jay Nixon (MO), Alejandro Garcia Padilla (PR), Gina Raimondo (RI), Peter Shumlin (VT), Earl Ray Tomblin (WV) and Tom Wolf (PA).

“We are doing big things in Connecticut — and we need to big things nationwide,” said Gov. Malloy, the incoming DGA Chairman in December. “We’ve seen decades of underinvestment that have hampered Connecticut’s economic growth, and that’s why we’re launching a transportation transformation in our state that will make our infrastructure best-in-class. We’re launching big plans to change the way we travel, and Congress should be equipping every state to do the same.”

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