Support for the BUILD America 250 Act, Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill

Dear Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen:

On behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, I write to commend your leadership in developing the Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250^th Act (BUILD America 250 Act) and urge its swift consideration.

The BUILD America 250 Act is a bipartisan, five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that includes investments in America's roads, bridges, public transit, rail, and highway safety. The legislation authorizes a total of $580 billion in spending over five years, including a nearly 25% increase in contract authority compared to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The legislation also focuses on core surface transportation programs, cutting red tape, rewarding innovation, and establishing an autonomous commercial motor vehicle framework.

Importantly, this legislation includes the first substantive effort to restore the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) as the primary federal mechanism funding surface transportation projects through the introduction of fees on electric and hybrid vehicles. This effort is long overdue. With existing user fees no longer keeping pace with our surface transportation needs, we need to modernize the HTF, so it remains solvent and able to meet our nation's investment needs.

To this end, the Chamber urges you to build on this progress by eliminating all existing federal user fees, including gasoline and diesel taxes and the Federal Excise Tax on commercial trucks and trailers, and establish a fee based on vehicle weight regardless of powertrain type or fuel economy. This model would ensure that all vehicles contribute equitably to the HTF - regardless of fuel type - as originally intended. Additionally, it would lower the cost of commercial trucks, encourage the adoption of newer and safer vehicles, reduce costs for farmers, and place the HTF on a sustainable path.

Today, a growing number of drivers contribute little or nothing to the HTF, while those driving older and less fuel-efficient vehicles or traveling longer distances, including rural drivers, bear a disproportionate burden. This imbalance is unfair and diverges from the original intent of the user fee system.

The introduction of the BUILD America Act is an important first step towards completion of a new surface transportation law this year. The Chamber stands ready to work with you to advance timely, bipartisan legislation that keeps America moving.

Sincerely,

Rodney Davis
Senior Vice President
Government Affairs
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

cc: The Members of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee