By Catherine Singley, Senior Policy Analyst, Economic and Employment Policy Project, NCLR
As if we hadn’t seen enough from our “kick them when they’re down” Congress, Republicans in the House of Representatives are poised to rub salt in the wounds of millions of Americans by derailing access to jobs and opportunity.
This week, the House of Representatives is seriously debating a comprehensive surface transportation bill, the “American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act” (H.R. 7). H.R. 7 cuts off all dedicated funding for public transportation, abandons a proven job creator by choking off access to jobs for low-income communities, and eliminates resources for safe streets. The most transit-dependent communities—people of color, low-income Americans, and people with disabilities—will be disproportionately harmed by the legislation. Twenty-five percent of low-income Latinos, in addition to 33% of low-income Blacks and 12% of low-income Whites, do not have access to an automobile and must navigate the public transit system to reach workplaces and essential services, such as health care. However, with the changes to the mass transit funding proposed by H.R. 7, cash-strapped transit providers would be further crippled, thereby creating enormous hardship for riders by increasing fares and cutting services.
The proposed legislation also cuts the small amount of dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs that make our streets safer. Certainly, safe streets are essential for all communities, yet people of color, children, and people with disabilities make up a disproportional amount of pedestrian fatalities due to unsafe road conditions. Minority and low-income children are more likely than their affluent or White peers to walk or bike to school, but H.R. 7 eliminates funding for the Safe Routes to Schools program. How are children supposed to learn if they can’t even get to the schoolhouse in one piece?
Beyond the severe harm that H.R. 7 would inflict on vulnerable communities, it also fails to maximize the job creation potential of the transportation sector itself. Transportation reauthorization could be the only significant action that Congress takes to create jobs before the general election, but H.R. 7 fails the jobs test big time. Never mind that investments in public transportation generate 31% more jobs than new construction of roads and bridges; for every $1 billion invested in public transit, more than 41,000 jobs are created. By opting out of dedicated funding for public transit, the drafters of H.R. 7 pass up the opportunity to put people back to work in one fell swoop.
In short, H.R. 7 cuts off vital access to work and survival in the communities hit hardest by the recession and fails to deliver on the job creation potential of transportation reauthorization. Contact your representative today and urge him or her to vote NO on H.R. 7!