Sen. Boxer wants Boehner to restore transportation funding

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is calling on House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to reverse cuts in transportation funding she says takes road and transit spending below levels of the recently approved $105 billion highway bill. 

Boxer said a continuing resolution of the previous transportation bill, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which has been expired since 2009, would cut $500 million in transportation funding from the 2013 fiscal year because it does not include an adjustment for inflation that was accounted for in the larger transportation bill. 

Boxer said Boehner should honor the funding levels lawmakers agreed on when they passed the first multi-year transportation in seven years in June. 

"Congress made a commitment to the American people that we were going to invest in our nation’s infrastructure at a time when our economy needs it the most," Boxer wrote in a letter to Boehner. 

"Congress cannot go back on that promise," she continued. "The MAP-21 funding levels should be honored for fiscal year 2013. If the cut were to remain in the continuing resolution, it must be restored before any full year transportation funding bill proceeds." 

The MAP-21 bill includes about $53 billion for road and transit projects through the end of the 2014 fiscal year. Boxer's letter comes as the 2013 fiscal year is set to begin after Sept. 30. 

Prior to the approval of the MAP-21 bill, the House passed a pair of extensions of the previous transportation funding bill that would carry road and transit funding through the end of fiscal 2012. 

The Senate approved an extension of the previous funding through the end of June, and both chambers passed a week-long extension to allow the MAP-21 bill to be finalized in early July. 

---