VP Biden: Highway Funding Patch to ‘Hopefully, Occur Very Soon’
WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden said Congress will soon unveil a highway funding patch that ensures states continue to receive federal funding assistance after transportation funding authority expires at the end of the month.
“We’re going to have a patch, hopefully, occur very soon,” the vice president said May 11 at the kickoff of Infrastructure Week at the Bloomberg Government newsroom.
Biden also pressed Congress to advance a long-term highway plan that improves freight connectivity and creates jobs. And he called for more investment in port-expansion projects to accommodate the large ships that will travel through an expanded Panama Canal next year.
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The multibillion dollar expansion project in Central America, which Biden said is the “eighth wonder of the world,” is meant to allow ships to travel to North America with nearly three times more cargo.
Biden does infrastructure week #renewrebuild #bgovbuild pic.twitter.com/z85Rsxjbw0
— Eugene Mulero (@eugenemulero) May 11, 2015
Biden also cited the 2013 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that projected that about $3.6 trillion in total investment by 2020 is required to upgrade the country’s infrastructure to good standing. The group also issued a report card assigning a D+ grade to the country’s infrastructure system.
Republican leaders are not expected to take up the Obama administration’s six-year Grow America Act transportation plan. Secretary Anthony Foxx has said the Highway Trust Fund would be depleted by midsummer. The fund assists states with infrastructure projects.
