RyanThe House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing June 17 to discuss long-term financing for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), with the plan to “explore the feasibility of various ideas” for sustainable solutions.
“The roads and bridges that keep our economy moving rely on a highly unsustainable financing system,” Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) said in announcing the hearing. “Solving this challenge for the long term will require us to think big, and I look forward to exploring new ideas to close the shortfall once and for all.”
Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reicher (R-Washington) added that a HTF multi-year funding solution is badly needed.
“Because of the importance of infrastructure to our communities and our economy, we will be diving into this issue, not just at the full committee level, but on the subcommittee level as well,” he said. “I and my colleagues on the Subcommittee for Select Revenue Measures will be examining whether we could finance a multi-year highway bill as we make our international tax system more competitive.”
The House recently passed a $55.3 billion spending bill for transportation and housing projects that would provide roughly $1.5 billion more than current spending bills, but $9.7 billion less than called for in the Obama Administration’s GROW America Act.
President Obama has previously said he would veto the bill.
