Rep. Smucker to serve on three transportation infrastructure subcommittees

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) recently announced he would be a member of three House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee subcommittees.

Smucker will serve on the Hazardous Materials and the Subcommittee on Aviation, the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Smucker knows how infrastructure is to citizens and businesses, committee ranking member Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) said.

“Our infrastructure system used to be the envy of the world,” Smucker said. “Unfortunately, it’s fallen behind due to time and a lack of long-term funding solutions. We need to work together to ensure we invest in this industry which is crumbling before our eyes. We can’t keep putting this off and saying ‘We’ll fix it later.’ The cost of doing nothing is too high a price for the American people. The time to act is now.”

There needs to be a long-term solution for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), Smucker said.

HTF funds infrastructure through the Highway Account, for maintaining bridges and highways, and the Mass Transit Account, for buses, ferries rail, subways, and other modes of mass public transit.

Both accounts will run out of funding by 2022, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.

Smucker feels the committee can improve infrastructure through bipartisanship.