WASHINGTON, DC (May 15, 2014) – Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee begins the markup of bipartisan legislation that would fund national transportation projects through the next six years—the MAP-21 Reauthorization Act. The following is a statement from BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster:

“Today’s markup signals our elected leaders’ willingness to confront the challenge of investing in our critical transportation systems. Ideally, their work to craft and pass strong infrastructure legislation will give communities and transit agencies the certainty that funding for modernizing our transit and road systems will be there when they need it at the end of the summer and the end of the decade.

“The MAP-21 Reauthorization Act isn’t just a transportation bill—it’s also a jobs bill. This legislation will help to create and maintain jobs in sectors from manufacturing to construction to operation and maintenance and provide much needed economic activity in our communities, in addition to facilitating the movement of goods and services.

“We’re happy to see both the Senate bill and the administration proposal extend their commitment to the highly successful Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan program. TIFIA has a track record of incentivizing more sustainable, results-driven mobility investments, and we hope its expanded scope is realized in the final legislation that ideally will be on the president’s desk this summer.

“While it’s important that current funding levels continue, we have a long way to go to address the problems caused by decades of chronic underinvestment. Rebuilding the systems we rely on everyday to get to work and school, supply power, keep us safe from floods when storms rage, and much more must be a priority. We urge the Senate to move quickly to pass a strong, long-term transportation bill, and to take up other efforts to restore our infrastructure. It’s time to invest in a stronger future.”