Column - Importance of True Infrastructure

Statement

Over the next few days, Americans will travel far and wide to celebrate our nation's Independence Day on July 4th. As travel picks up for the national holiday, it reminds us of how vital functioning and efficient infrastructure is to our country. Whether you are hitting the highway for a road trip this weekend or staying local, infrastructure touches all of our lives.

This week, Democrats in the House of Representatives pushed through their partisan "infrastructure" bill. Rather than streamlining processes and using taxpayer dollars more efficiently, this legislation doubles down on policies that would slow construction and repairs, and reallocates funding to Green New Deal priorities. For any infrastructure package to help our economy, it must be focused on conventional infrastructure and transportation needs, like waterways, roads, and bridges, and not on partisan politics.

Since infrastructure needs vary greatly from state to state, it is important we allow states and communities the flexibility to target their specific needs and spend money more efficiently. Rather than allowing communities to stretch transportation dollars farther by streamlining ways to ensure projects protect the environment, the bill instead installs new green standards for many projects. It also expands union requirements, which are particularly problematic for places like rural Nebraska where most of our workforce, including construction, has chosen not to unionize. The bill also includes a misguided provision allowing infrastructure money to be spent on projects like public art installations.

I also have serious concerns that Democrats chose to move their infrastructure spending proposals to the floor while disregarding the question of how to pay for it. While the gas tax has long been a primary source of infrastructure funding, under the premise that it is an equitable way to ensure drivers are funding the roads they use, it continues to grow less effective. With increased fuel mileage and a rise in electric vehicles, owners are being allowed to avoid gas taxes all together.

One method for infrastructure funding is the Vehicle Miles-Traveled Tax, or VMT. While the VMT provides a way of ensuring drivers pay for roads on a mile-for-mile basis, privacy advocates have expressed concern about the potential for it to track the location of drivers in their vehicles. I am also concerned a VMT may be unfair to rural America compared to urban and suburban areas, since rural drivers likely drive longer distances and cover more miles in the same amount of time spent on the road.

Nebraska is home to a wide array of infrastructure, and we need new solutions to more efficiently and effectively fund construction and repairs. In particular, I am interested to hear your thoughts on funding roads and bridges through a VMT. If you have thoughts on the subject, please take a moment to share them here: https://adriansmith.house.gov/feedback.

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