It system. Well go ahead and call the subcommittee to order. And id like to say good morning and welcome all of our witnesses here today to the hearing. By now weve seen reports last weeks fire in the resulting collapse of section i85 northeast of atlanta. This is a critically important piece of our infrastructure system which carries 400,000 cars a day. But that volume of traffic, its amazing that there wasnt a any loss of life in this incident. I commend the state and local officials for responding so quickly to the crisis. I also want to commend the u. S. Department of transportation for acting quickly to release funds, emergency funds and provide assistance. Were here to examine the fast act. This is the first Long Term Service transportation reauthorization bill in a decade and its an Important Foundation for building a 21st century infrastructure. As a fiveyear bill provides very much needed certainty and funding so that our federal, nonfederal partners can make smart long term investments. The fast act is a forward looking tlau puts an emphasis on projects of national significance, the movement of freight, streamlining project delivery and Innovative Solutions to transportation challenges. Local entities have the tass to being deliver projects to the kmunlts. As they care why you ott prot jekts, the witnesses have a firsthand view of how federal transportation policies are being implemented by the u. S. Department of transportation. We look forward to building a 21st century infrastructure with our state and local partners and were going to very much welcome their input today. I now recognize Ranking Member of the subcommittee for your opening statement. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Chairman graves, im very grateful for this subcommittee hearing. I think it indicates that our subcommittee wants to get beyond all of the interest that we heard on infrastructure and see what we can really do. We know that a large infrastructure package idea, the idea of a large infrastructure package which is on the minds of many in the administration and our minds is not going to magically appear. We did a lot of im going to say, i think, deservedly so a lot of self congratulation whether we passed the first Service Transportation bill in 10 years. And i must say, im very grateful, mr. Chairman, that it was a good bipartisan effort and i know you share with me the disappointment that in order to get any increase whatsoever after ten years, we had to make a sixyear bill a fiveyear bill. I dont know how long we can keep that din disinvestment going on. If youre not investing in a state of good repair much less the new infrastructure we need, youre not investing, we are disinvesting. When i say disinvesting, remember how we built this country. Ever since this idea of the federal transportation infrastructure package was created by president eisenhower, the country has understood that you cant be a great country unless you continuously invest in infrastructure. The Congressional Budget Office said we face 139 billion short fall in the Highway Trust Fund just over the next decade. If were trying to continue to fund the fast act funding levels. And it says we need 700 sorry, 17 billion more a year than fast act levels at the federal level to improve our infrastructure and to maintain a state of good repair. Reducing that backlog. Im very pleased that president has said good things about infrastructure. So i hasten to get ahold of the skinny biblgt a skinny budget and was very disappointed to hear of really unheard of cuts to popular Transportation Programs. So instead of investing after my hopes had been raised, for example, in trans it, urgently needed to alleviate congestion, the president wants to stop all new investments sn in trans it by cutting off the new starts program. Im grateful for the continuing bipartisan on this committee. I was pleased to sign a letter with chairman grachz and the leadership to urge the Appropriation Committee to fully fund all Fast Act Programs as thorded for the remainder of 2017 and in the upcoming 2018 budget. Im still banking on a president that talks about a trillion dollar proposal at least supporting us as we fight to maintain the meager funding levels we v and we know that budget im not terribly im not terribly pulling my hair out that the president s cuts will go through because no matter who is president , the appropriators always rewrite the budget. Im concerned theyre pushing more financing and they would make them more expensive than traditional funneleding mechanisms and regulatory reforms than making Real Investment. And investors senate approach doll little to improve infrom struck stur across the nation. You simply cannot build your infrastructure and expect that toll roads will somehow pay for it. There must be a revenue stream and for the modern era in american life, its always begun with this committee and subcommittee. Nor can we streamline our way out of inAdequate Funding. Secretary chow said recent lit problem is not money. Imagine saying that about roads and transit. The problem is always money. Its delays r lays caused by the government that hold up processes for years and decades making them risky investments. But in, fact, if you check the data, only 4 of all Infrastructure Projects are nationwide undergo any rigorous Environmental Review. Most of it is what you and i see every day. 90 of projects receive from categorical exclusion through the categorical exclusion process and are exempt from rigorous levels of review. Recent Inspector General report also refutes the notion that more streamlining now is the prunlt cost of action. Additional streamlining provisions are actually slowing down the department of u. S. Department of transportations ability to implement the project delivery accelerations put into map 21. In other words, piling streamlining measures on top of each other before they can be implemented simply does not help and frankly did not happen. Ive always defended opportunities for participation and continue to believe that it helps us to improve the ultimate projects. Community input and buy in are crucial to the successful and expeditious advancement of transportation projects. Getting Public Participation sorry, gutting Public Participation in the name of cutting red tape will harm our roads and harm the constituents who use our roads and infrastructure. I dont believe we can reinvent the wheel whether it comes to transportation. I just think there is no way around our obligation as the congress of the United States to provide states and local government w governments with the funding and flexibility that they alone know what to do with to produce smart and efficient projects allowing the states who have the wisdom once we get give them the none go ahead. I very much look forward to todays witnesses. I read the headlines about atlanta and ill be interested to see what can you do about that unforeseen circumstance. Thank you very much. I look forward to the testimony. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thanks for this important hearing. Ill just restate a few things because they do need replace ment. Over 90 billion just to bring existing trans it up to a state of good repair let alone buildout new transit options for people and we have not incruised the user fee in washington, d. C. , in a quarter century. Over the past few years, 17 states have raised their gas tax and nobody has been recalled, nobody has lost their reelection. And it has not been a controversy. The American People get it. Theyre tired of sitting in traffic. Theyre tired of blowing out tires and potholes. Theyre tired of being detoured around weight limit or closed bridges. Theyre tired of the decrepit state of our mass transit. And they want to see action. You know, that is today im sending secretary chow a letter urging her to come down and work with congress to create a consensus around Real Investment and Real Solutions for the nations infrastructure problems. Im hearing a lot of talk about, well, its going to be p3s, infrastructure banks, private tax credits. And were going to streamline the federal approval process. Lets address that briefly. First off, most p3s are projects a billion dollars or larger. Youre going have a rast return. You have to to attract the investment. They have to be told of some other way, you know, to recoup the investment. And theyre generally five to one public money to private money. Now the speaker is saying that he wants 401 private money to public money. That means no more p3s l is no investors out there are going to put up, you know, at a 401 ratio and do a p3. They generally put up 10 to 15 at the most, 20 and the rest comes from local bonding or state bonding. Minus pal bonds, whatever. So thats myth number one. Now infrom structure banks, private activity bonds, you know, those are new forms of local borrowing. Again, they require a revenue stream. Hence, willing to or some other way of you know, of recouping the investment. Of course, they do increase the costs. Now secretary chow unfortunately was given some alternate facts by somebody. She stated investors say there is Ample Capital available waiting to invest in infrastructure products. Its delays caused by kmigt process thats hold up projects for years and decades making them risky investments. No. No. That is not the problem. In fact, we made 42 major policy changes for streamlining and n. Map 21. Not all of those have been implemented yet. In fact, some of them have run into conflicts with the fast act. So we did streamlining. Question more streamlining on top of streamlining. Lets get all that implement aend sand see if there are still any issues. More than 90 of the projects go forward under categorical exclusion which is basically filling out a few sheets of paper and it might take you a month or two months at the most. So that isnt the issue here. You cant streamline your way out of lack of funneleding. 4 of projects, 4 require Environmental Impact statements and as Ranking Member norton noted, most of those are head up held up at the local or state level because of controversies surrounding those projects, redesign and other things which came out in hearings which are required under the process. Fwhaut is but that is 4 of the projects. 96 dont have to go through a rigorous Environmental Review. And a recent report about it treasury looked at 40 economically significant transportation water projects whose completion has been slowed or in jeopardy. Proof positive about streamlining. No. The report found that a lack of public funding is the major factor hindering the completion of the projects. Plain and simple, there is a provision that says if Congress Appropriates more money to transportation, it flows through the policies in the fast act. We dont need to spend a year or two rewriting the policies, arguing over transit highway split, arguing over enhancements, arguing over how much goes to freight. We dont have to go through any of that. They have the guts to put up a little bit of money. And thats why introduced a penny for progress. As i said before, if anybody around here thinks theyre going to lose their election, theyre going to vote on something that caps the indexation increase at 1. 5 cents a gallon, then you dont belong here. Thank you, mr. Chairman. The Oklahoma Department of transportation, he is testifying on behalf of the American Association state highway transportation officials. There is gary thomas, president and executive director of the rapid trans it. He is testifying on behalf of the american puckly Transportation Association and id like to recognize ms. Johnson of texas to make a formal int formal introduction. Thank you very much. Im very proud to introduce not only a friend and partner but a good executive who is mr. Gary thomas, president and executive director of the dallas area Rapid Transit which we call dart. He and i Work Together for many years to cultivate our great city of dallas into an interconnected transit hub that it is today. As the largest growing metropolitan area in the country. The nations longest and largest at 93 miles long. Under his leadership, dart is a leading example of how to infectively manage and grow a flourishing public trans it network. I happen to know that dart also has very strong working relationships with our federal partners at usdot and the federal Transit Administration thanks to mr. Thomas. Hes also very effective at cultivating Strategic Partnerships with local stake holders to meet the needs of the robust Transit Network in the dallas metroplex. And with that, mr. Chairman, im proud to introduce mr. Thomas to the committee with great anticipation to his testimony and his plea for money. We have sam reid testifying on behalf of the conference of mayors. I now recognize mr. Johnson of georgia to make a formal interduction. I thank you, mr. Chairman. Its my pleasure to recognize and welcome my friend, mayor of atlanta to this hearing. As we convene this hearing this morning, i can think of no better witness to offer than the honorable reid. Mayor reid when he first came into office he balanced atlantas budget and he took care of the challenge of the unfunded Pension System which had been languishing for many years. Thats been taken care of successfully six years ago or seven years ago, actually. He has invested in hiring more Police Officers in atlanta. Our crime rate continues to go down. Mayor reed is the 59th mayor of the city of atlanta, serving in that capacity since 2010. Mayor reid is known for building relationships and working in a bipartisan way with local, state, and federal stait stake holders. Atlanta experienced significant economic develop ment and a population boom. For instance, his work with governor nathan deal and the Obama Administration to obtain federal support for the part of savannah expansion project has resulted in much economic develop ment for the atlanta region and for the state of georgia. The city has responded by undertaking an ambitious agenda to upgrade roads and bridges and improve the it citys transportation infrastructure. It is yif atlanta and mayor reeds leadership undergoing a historic 2. 6 billion expansion of metropolitan atlanta Rapid Transit authority or marta and expanding and completing unique projects such as atlantas belt line which is a 22mile stretch of trails and trans it around the city on an band onned railways. This project has opened up a lot of economic develop ment in terms of new housing, rehabilitated housing, New Residence coming in. H. , businesses opening up communities being created that are walkable, bikable, and interconnected and also at the same time he has presided over the opening of the International Terminal at the Atlanta Airport as atlanta matures into a world class city. Hes overseeing currently a 6 billion expansion of the hearts field jackson airport, an international airport, the worlds busiest airport. Same time building a state of the art stadium for our dear falcons. It nears completion, world class facility with the retractable roof. So much that we can talk about. Mayor reeds leadership, hes leveraging with university ands the private sector to build an innovative transportation infrastructure that ensures mobility and creativity for atlantas residence, businesses and visitors all taking place while atlanta remains an affordable city where every day working people can afford to live, work, and play. With that, im proud to introduce to this committee mayor reed. Thank you, mr. Johnson. I ask unanimous con sent that our witnesses full statements be included in the record. Without objection. That is so ordered. And since the written testimony will be made part of the record, we ask that you limit the sum troy five minutes. With that, mr. Patterson, we start with you. Is. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Members of the committee, my name is mike patterson. Im the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of transportation and im here today to testify on behalf of odot and the American Association of state highway and transportation officials. First we want to thank you, mr. Chairman and other members of your committee, for your leadership and efforts to increase the efficiency of delivering transportation projects n cooperation with the federal government, the state dots continue to seek opportunities and create solutions to solve the deteriorating National Transportation system. All of us have come to realize that additional funding is important and serves as a partial solution to the problem. The fast acts authorization of 305 billion for federal highway, highway safety, transit, passenger real programs from 2016 to 2020 could not have come at a could not have been timelier in spurring our Economic Growth and investment in our multimodal transportation infrastructure. But equally important to initiating and completing transportation investments in a timely manner involves major problematic and policy reform contained in the fast act and map 21. It is our hope that congress will feel comfortable in seeking additional reforms that will provide further opportunities to improve t