[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 86 (Monday, May 22, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E472-E473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TRANSPORTATION FUNDING 
                              EQUALITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 22, 2023

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the District of Columbia 
Transportation Funding Equality Act. The bill would make the District 
of Columbia eligible for three federal programs that support the 
development and revitalization of public transportation systems in the 
same manner that states are currently eligible for these programs. It 
would also make D.C. eligible for a transportation program that

[[Page E473]]

would support the replacement and removal of infrastructure that 
damages the ecosystems of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers. D.C. 
residents pay the same federal taxes as residents of the states. In 
fact, D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state. D.C. 
should be treated as a state in federal programs.
  First, the bill would treat D.C. as a state in the High-Density 
States Formula for certain grants from the Mass Transit Account of the 
Highway Trust Fund. Currently, only states are eligible for these 
grants. Second, the bill would treat D.C. as a state under the Grants 
for Buses and Bus Facilities Program. Under this program, each state is 
authorized to receive a minimum amount of $4 million per year, while 
D.C. is authorized to receive a minimum of only $1 million. Third, the 
bill would treat D.C. as a state under the National Culvert Removal, 
Replacement, and Restoration Grant Program. Currently, only states and 
units of local government are eligible for these competitive grants, 
and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has held that D.C. does 
not qualify, even though it operates as the functional equivalent of a 
joint city, county and state. Fourth, the bill would treat D.C. as a 
state for the purposes of the Safe Streets for All Program. Cities, 
counties and political subdivisions of a state are eligible for these 
grants, but DOT has held that D.C. is ineligible.
  The programs in the bill fund the modernization of bus and rail 
fleets, the purchase of zero-emission transit vehicles, the improvement 
of station accessibility for all users, the extension of transit 
service to new communities, the replacement and repair of culverts, and 
the implementation of roadway safety improvements for all road users. 
They especially benefit communities of color, since these households 
are twice as likely to use public transportation.
  Last Congress, the House's surface transportation reauthorization 
act, the INVEST in America Act, would have made D.C. eligible for these 
four programs in the same manner as states. Unfortunately, the enacted 
surface transportation reauthorization act, the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act, which the Senate wrote, did not.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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