Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, voted today to ensure job-creating transportation projects continue to receive funding through the summer construction season, while again calling on Congress to take up a long-term surface transportation bill that would invest in repairs and upgrades to roads, bridges, highways and transit systems.

Larsen voted for and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a five-month extension of the Highway Trust Fund, which is set to expire on July 31. The fund is the primary source of federal investments in roads, bridges, highways and transit systems.

Larsen also voted for a motion that would have allowed a House vote on the GROW AMERICA Act, a six-year, $478 billion surface transportation bill backed by the administration. Larsen is a cosponsor of the Act and has long called for sustainable and reliable transportation investments. Republicans voted down this measure.

“Another short-term transportation patch, another affront to jobs and our economy. We cannot have a big league economy with little league infrastructure. But the House made a little league move today by failing to make a long-term investment in our roads, bridges, highways and transit systems.

“The short-term injection of money into the Highway Trust Fund will keep transportation projects moving forward over the summer. But without a long-term transportation bill like the GROW AMERICA Act that provides predictable investments for our nation’s roads, bridges, highways, and transit systems, we slam the brakes on the economy and jobs,” Larsen said.

The two-month Highway Trust Fund patch, H.R. 3038, authorizes the fund through December18, 2015.

Larsen recently met with local elected officials, economic development groups, public works departments and other transportation stakeholders across Northwest Washington about their communities’ transportation needs and the role of federal funding. He also recently released a report, “Keeping Our Economy Moving: Northwest Washington’s Transportation Needs,” that explains why transportation infrastructure is so important to Washington state’s economy, why Congress must act, and what he is doing to support a long-term transportation solution.

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