Dear Representative,
The AFL-CIO urges you to pass a multiyear reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) before the end of this year. The short-term HTF funding extension that the House will consider today will keep workers on the job this summer and fall fixing our bridges, operating our transit systems and making our highways safer, but it is not enough.
Congress has had ample time to pass a long-term reauthorization and we urge you not to put off consideration of a multiyear funding bill into the next Congress. To help encourage action, we would support an effort to tighten the Ways and Means bill so that it requires Congress to act by December of this year.
Our country needs a long-term plan to modernize our surface transportation system, which is a basic responsibility of the federal government. Passing a multiyear authorization this year will provide employment stability, improve our transportation infrastructure, and give states the certainty they need for long-term planning.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs Department