Washington, D.C. -- Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), Senator David Vitter (R-LA), Ranking Member of the Committee, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, and Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, today announced the markup date for the reauthorization of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), long-term bipartisan legislation to fund and improve the nation's Federal-aid highway programs for six years at current funding plus inflation.

The bill will be marked up in the EPW Committee on Thursday, May 15th at 10:00 am ET. The current surface transportation bill, MAP-21, expires on September 30th.

Senator Boxer said: "This job-creating legislation provides the long-term funding certainty that states, cities, and businesses need while maintaining and improving the efficiency of the successful TIFIA program and establishing a formula-based freight program to improve the movement of goods on our surface transportation system. My deepest thanks to Senators Vitter, Carper and Barrasso for working with me on this bipartisan bill."

Senator Vitter said: "It's time to restore trust in the Highway Trust Fund and to build and fix our nation's roads and bridges so people can carry out their daily routines. We'll remain focused on a long-term reauthorization bill that invests in rural areas, expands flexibility for state and local governments, and improves safety. And it's incredibly important that we get projects streamlined and cut long bureaucratic waits."

Senator Carper said: "Every American has a stake in this bill, which provides for more than 40 percent of all highway capital investments and a quarter of our public transit funding. This legislation will give our governors, mayors, and other officials the certainty of long term funding they need to develop and improve our transportation infrastructure, aiding communities around the country. These investments also benefit private sector businesses of all types and sizes, helping them to create new jobs and better compete in the global economy. I thank Chairman Boxer and Ranking Member Vitter for leading a thoughtful and bipartisan process to develop this legislation. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I will continue to do my part to work with my colleagues to find a responsible way to pay for this critical legislation."

Senator Barrasso said: "Rural Americans rely on the federal highway system every day and they need it to be safe and efficient. The upcoming markup will be an opportunity for us to make more progress on a fiscally responsible bill that will improve highways across rural America and the nation. I appreciate my colleagues' leadership and look forward to working with them."

The legislative text for the legislation will be released on Monday, May 12th, when the Committee markup is officially noticed.


###