Washington D.C. - Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) condemned the Ways and Means Committee's passage of the tax provision in H.R. 3864 - American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Financing Act of 2011. This portion of the bill would end the guaranteed funding for mass transportation and leave today's inadequate funding levels in doubt. While Rangel and Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) tried to thwart the Republican effort by offering an amendment to strike the provision, it failed on a strict party line vote of 22-15. 

"At a time when unemployment in the construction sector is 13% nationally we should be putting people to work to improve our nation's transportation system, not cutting basic funding for public transportation providers such as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority," said Rangel.  "In New York alone, over 8 million riders rely on the MTA everyday to commute across bridges and highways to and from work. Gutting the lifeline for our nation's transit agencies will have an erosive impact on the people and the regional economy."

The amendment offered by Rangel and Blumenauer would have preserved the dedicated funding for transit programs offered by the Mass Transit Account, which allows transit agencies in communities across the country to plan for the future and allows the Federal Transit Agency to honor its long-term commitments. 

At the direction of House leadership, the Republicans are expected to reverse policy that began under President Ronald Reagan. For the past 30 years, Congress has supported dedicated funding for both highways and transit. As congestion rose in urban areas, and rural areas saw their share of car-less, low-income families rise, bipartisan support grew for providing transit as a dependable relief valve. Republican proposal to redirect federal gasoline tax revenues away from mass transportation would mean that transit would have to compete each year for general fund revenues that are in line for deep cuts in coming years.

Added Rangel: "I will be fighting against this deplorable bill that is obstructing our effort to improve our infrastructure and create jobs so that future generations may have an adequate and safe transportation system."

More than 600 local officials groups, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the National Association of City Transportation Officials, and other organizations have signed on to a letter opposing H.R. 3864.

More info on American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Financing Act of 2012's Proposed Changes to Surface Transportation Funding:

• H.R. 3864 would terminate all dedicated revenues – 2.86 cents per gallon of the 18.4 federal gasoline tax – that have been dedicated to mass transit since the Reagan Administration [it was only 1 cent under Reagan - this amount has gone up over time]

• The Mass Transit Account would receive a one-time infusion of revenues from the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury of roughly $40 billion to be spent down over the life of the reauthorization. The offsets for these funds have not yet been identified and could be controversial -- further these funds would be subject to future budget fights as Congress looks to reduce general fund spending.

• This represents a significant funding cut compared to current law for transit and Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) programs.

• In addition, this change breaks with three decades of policy and severs the connection between user fees and transit programs.

• General Fund revenues are subject to cuts in future years and do not provide the budgetary firewalls and protections that currently exist for the Mass Transit Account and the CMAQ program.