By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Northern Missouri Congressman, Sam Graves, says the massive budget bill that squeaked to passage in the U.S. House will provide needed investments into the national transportation system.
Graves, the Republican chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, tells his committee the budget bill addresses recent airline crashes by placing a $12 ½ billion down payment to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system.
“This down payment allows the administration to immediately begin replacing critical communications infrastructure, radar systems, and also invest in runway safety and airport surface surveillance projects,” Graves says during a committee hearing in Washington, D.C.
Graves says the bill addresses the chronic Highway Trust Fund shortfall for the first time in 30 years.
“Put simply, the system for funding our federal surface transportation programs is broken,” according to Graves. “And our recommendation is to implement a $250 annual fee on electric vehicles and $100 annual fee on hybrid vehicles and deposit all those collections in the Highway Trust Fund.”
The bill has moved to the United States Senate for its consideration.
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