NYC Mayor de Blasio, OK City Mayor Cornett Lead Bipartisan Charge for Long-Term Transportation Bill

In a bipartisan effort led by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who Chairs The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Cities of Opportunity Task Force, and U.S. Conference of Mayors Second Vice-President Oklahoma City (OK) Mayor Mick Cornett, more than 100 mayors around the country — including 30 mayors who traveled to Washington, D.C.–urged Congress to enact a long-term renewal of the federal transportation law that significantly increases investment in our roads, bridges, and transit and directs more funding to meet the infrastructure needs of cities and their metropolitan regions.

Mayors are particularly concerned because current federal transportation funding — Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) — is set to expire on May 31. In addition to meeting with a number of members of Congress, including U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration Ranking Member Chuck Schumer and Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee James Inhofe, who has jurisdiction over the bill, the mayors held a press conference on Capitol Hill to call for a long-term renewal bill with increased resources and more locally-directed funding to address the growing needs in cities where populations are steadily rising.

The mayors stressed that local governments own and operate 78 percent of the nation’s road miles, 43 percent of the nation’s federal-aid highway miles, 50 percent of the nation’s bridge inventory, and support our local and federal transit systems. “U.S. metropolitan areas contribute significantly to our national economy and quality of life, generating 90 percent of the nation’s GDP and representing 85% of its population.

Cities and their metros are expected to account for 92% of the nation’s future economic growth and attract 66 million more people over the next three decades.” “This growth will bring dramatic and increasing pressures on our transportation systems,” said USCM Second Vice President Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. “We need a strong long-term renewal bill so our cities and metro areas can continue their current trend of driving the national economy forward.”

The mayors also highlighted the critical importance of investing in and modernizing America’s infrastructure systems, which are essential to our economy, and explained that the country’s outdated transit, highways, streets and bridges are a drag on our national recovery – and present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to drive job and wage growth, manufacturing, trade and global competitiveness.

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