A new report from U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) details the cuts to the nation’s transportation system if Congress refuses to renew advance appropriations for infrastructure programs.
The report “Chopping Block” found that gutting the Surface Transportation Bill would cost the average American family an estimated $700 a year, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. The costs would stem from things like increased congestion, increased car and truck repairs and lost economic productivity.
Cantwell, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said changes to transportation funding would leave states, localities and tribes without predictable multiyear funding, forcing them to rely on the annual appropriations process and its unpredictable fluctuations. Those fluctuations could cause delays and increase project costs, she said.
The report comes as the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, comes to an end. The legislation expires on Oct. 1, 2026, and without its renewal, vital transportation programs will be gutted, her office said, including investments in freight infrastructure, mega projects, local infrastructure improvements and passenger rail.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) made critical, historic infrastructure investments through advance appropriations funding to reduce the cost of shipping goods, support economic development, and improve safety,” Senate Democrats said in a letter to Senate leadership calling for continued support of funding at BIL levels. “Reducing funding available for transportation programs by treating BIL as a one-time infusion will increase costs, cost us American jobs, and set our country back.”
At greatest risk – the American freight infrastructure which, if advance appropriations are not renewed, would see a decrease of 67 percent for four essential freight programs that could support more than 400 projects still in need of federal funding. Local economic development infrastructure would also be impacted. The report projects that three popular grant programs that support local economic development will decrease 90 percent. And American rail infrastructure would lose 83 percent of the funding for four essential rail programs.