Coalition Letter Supporting the Cornyn-Padilla Amendment (S. 3011/H.R. 5735) in any Stopgap Spending Package
As Congress works to find agreement on a continuing resolution, the undersigned organizations ask that the overwhelmingly bipartisan S. 3011/H.R. 5735 be included in any stopgap spending package. This legislation allows states and localities additional flexibility to use American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds for a range of transportation purposes. The ARP law provided $350 billion in state and local government relief funds and $10 billion in capital improvement assistance. As states continue to recover from the pandemic, new economic headwinds and rising costs have emerged. Currently, states and localities are only allowed to use a fraction of their ARP resources for highway, public transit, and other surface transportation projects. By passing S. 3011/H.R. 5735, the ARP funds can help mitigate state budget shortfalls and allow states and localities to address ongoing infrastructure needs that may have been sidelined during the pandemic.