[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 12 (Thursday, January 21, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E54-E55]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE BICYCLE COMMUTER ACT OF 2021

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 21, 2021

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I introduced the Bicycle 
Commuter Act of 2021. This legislation passed the House last session in 
Section 90436 of the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2, 116th Cong.) and would 
reinstate and improve the bicycle commuter tax benefit.
  The bicycle is the most efficient form of urban transportation ever 
devised. Cycling reduces carbon emissions, provides enormous physical 
and mental health benefits, and is one of the most cost-effective modes 
of transportation available. Communities across the country have 
realized these benefits and substantially invested in building better 
bike networks and improving facilities for biking to work. These 
investments are one of the reasons that rates of biking to work have 
increased by more than one-third since 2000. Still, however, only 0.51 
percent of workers biked to work in 2019.
  Despite these impressive developments, there is no commuter tax 
benefit for biking to work--like we have for parking and transit. First 
enacted in 2009, the bicycle commuter benefit was a tax benefit that 
employers could offer to provide a reimbursement of up to $20/month for 
expenses relating to bicycle commuting expenses. But if an employee 
elected

[[Page E55]]

to take advantage of the bicycle commuting reimbursement, they were not 
eligible to receive transit or parking commuter benefits. The Tax Cuts 
and Jobs Act suspended the bicycle commuting reimbursement benefit 
through 2025, taking away a valuable financial incentive for people who 
choose to bike to work.
  With more employees choosing to bike to work, it is critical that 
Congress reinstates the bicycle commuter benefit and uses this 
opportunity to improve the benefit to reflect present-day commuting 
options. The Bicycle Commuter Act of 2021 reinstates the bicycle 
commuter benefit and changes the structure of the benefit by making it 
a pre-tax benefit, allowing employees to receive a higher benefit 
amount, allowing the benefit to be used with parking and transit, and 
adding bikeshare and electric bikes as an eligible expense.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate 
to enact this legislation and provide Americans with cleaner, more 
efficient ways of commuting to work.

                          ____________________