H.R. 2 authorizes funding for federal highway, transit, highway safety, motor carrier, research, hazardous materials, and rail programs of the Department of Transportation. It provides $46.4 billion in fiscal 2021 funding and provides up to $12.5 billion in funding through fiscal 2025 to reduce the “climate-change” impacts of the surface-transportation system. It also implements new transportation safety requirements and directs the Transportation Department to establish a pilot program for a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee to maintain the Highway Trust Fund.
The House passed H.R. 2 on July 1, 2020 by a vote of 233 to 188 (Roll Call 138). We have assigned pluses to the nays because the federal government should not be funding highways, addressing transportation-related “climate-change” issues, promoting motor-vehicle safety, or imposing a tax on driving in order to pay for highway construction and maintenance. Such projects should be left in the hands of state or municipal governments, where the Constitution intends such issues to be handled.
