Oppose H.R. 7 – The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act

Recipient: U.S. House of Representatives

Dear Representative:

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more
than 210 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all
persons in the United States, we urge you to oppose the American Energy and
Infrastructure Jobs Act, H.R. 7. 
Through policy and funding proposals, H.R. 7 would severely limit access
to affordable and accessible public transportation and safe roadways.  Communities of color, low-income Americans and
people with disabilities will be disproportionately impacted since they are the
most transit dependent communities and negotiate their daily lives on mass transportation
to reach employment, health care, and
educational centers.^[i]  In addition, safe roadways are crucial
to all communities; but children, older adults, and people of color make up disproportionate
percentages of pedestrian fatalities due to unsafe road conditions.^[ii]

H.R. 7 eliminates all
dedicated funding for mass transit, casting aside a 30-year bipartisan history
of providing this funding for federal transit programs.  Gutting this reliable source of funds
for mass transit could further cripple transit systems around the country and hurt
millions of people who depend on public transportation to reach their workplace
and vital services.  Low-income
communities rely disproportionately on public transportation: 33% of low-income
African Americans; 25% of low-income Latinos; and 12.1% of low-income Whites do
not have automobile access.^[iii]  With public transportation ridership at
record highs, many transit agencies are facing fiscal crises, resulting in service
cuts and higher fares.^[iv]  The cuts in H.R. 7 to dedicated transit
funding may trigger additional service cuts and fare increases, creating
further hardship for those who rely on these systems.

In addition to adversely
impacting transportation access to jobs for low income communities, the proposed cuts to mass transit funding could negatively
affect job creation in the transportation sector.  Historically, public transportation investments generate 31
percent more jobs than new construction of roads and bridges, and for every $1
billion invested in public transportation, more than 41,000 jobs are created.^[v]
 Maintaining a reliable source of
funding for mass transit investments could enable transit agencies to create
jobs in the public transit and manufacturing industry. 

H.R. 7 not only
removes dedicated funding that helps low income communities, it also eliminates
discretionary transit programs, including the Transportation Investment
Generating Economic Recovery
(TIGER).  TIGER has funded dozens
of transit-oriented projects throughout the country with a merit-based
approach.  TIGER grants have helped
communities to move forward with critical, job-creating infrastructure projects
including road and bridge improvements; transit upgrades; and freight, port and
rail expansions.  Three rounds of
TIGER grants have previously been approved by Congress, including $500 million
in FY 2012.  Many of the TIGER
grants included provisions to ensure that the
projects they finance will benefit low-income workers
and other disadvantaged communities.

H.R. 7 also cuts the small amount of dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs, such as
Safe Routes to School, which has created safe routes for children to bike and
walk to and from schools, including students with disabilities, in rural, and
urban communities.  The Safe Routes
to School program has helped ensure safe access to school among low-income and minority
students who are more likely to walk to school than whites or higher-income
students.^[vi]

Finally, H.R. 7 fails to
include a workforce development or job access proposal that expands
opportunities to apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, which are especially
important for individuals in disadvantaged communities, who have been
underrepresented in the construction transportation workforce.^[vii]
 A Construction Careers
Demonstration Project would give low-income people, minorities, women, veterans,
and people with disabilities better access to construction employment in the
transportation sector, encourage hiring of these workers, and build more
opportunities for quality apprenticeship training.  By establishing a
framework to lift up job standards in the construction industry and develop new
recruitment and training standards that help new workers get into jobs,
construction career programs will benefit workers, communities, and the
construction industry as a whole.

The
Leadership Conference believes that any transportation bill must be bipartisan
and provide robust investments in infrastructure and job creation, as well as
access to public transit for low income communities.  H.R. 7
fails to meets this standard, and therefore we urge you to oppose it on the House floor.  If you have any questions, feel free to
contact Lexer Quamie, Counsel at (202) 466-3648 or [email protected], or Nancy Zirkin at (202) 466-3311 or [email protected].  Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Wade Henderson  
President & CEO                                                                       

Nancy
Zirkin
Executive
Vice President