Titus Calls for Immediate Action to Restore the Highway Trust Fund
Washington, DC,
May 14, 2014
May 14, 2014
Congresswoman Dina Titus sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner and Leader Nancy Pelosi today to urge immediate action to restore the Highway Trust Fund. May 14, 2014 Las Vegas, NV - Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s First District sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner and Leader Nancy Pelosi today to urge immediate action to restore the Highway Trust Fund.
The full text of the letter can be found here:
May 14, 2014
Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi,
I am writing in regards to a looming economic crisis that this country will face if the Highway Trust Fund is allowed to become insolvent. More than 112,000 projects impacting 700,000 jobs in construction and related industries are threatened if we do not act, and act quickly. In Nevada alone, 6,000 jobs associated with projects scheduled for construction later this year would be cut, leaving families across my District struggling to make ends meet and negatively impacting businesses and commerce as we allow our transportation infrastructure to crumble.
More than a year ago the Congressional Budget Office sent a report to the House Budget Committee that clearly illustrates the situation we now face. “The current trajectory of the Highway Trust Fund is unsustainable,” it stated. This stark warning not only went unheeded by the Congress, but the Republican-passed Budget for Fiscal Year 2015 makes matters worse by locking in current revenue levels and making short-term fixes nearly impossible.
I have heard from representatives from Nevada Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation Authority of Southern Nevada, the City of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, local labor organizations, and countless others who have raised concerns about the insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. Critical infrastructure projects, including six multi-million dollar improvements along I-15, the main north/south interstate running through the heart of Las Vegas, will be delayed or canceled if we do not act. Indeed, just last week Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx contacted the directors of the state departments of transportation to inform them that without Congressional action, adjustments to federal obligations to the states will occur.
This is a dangerous road to travel; we need immediate leadership to avoid going over this man-made cliff. I urge you to move without delay and bring forward a solution that will restore the Highway Trust Fund until such time as a long-term transportation authorization that maintains our investments in infrastructure can make its way through the legislative process. We can ill afford the kind of inaction and political gamesmanship that has riddled this Congress. I thank you for your attention to this vital request.
Sincerely,
Dina Titus
Member of Congress
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