The Honorable Sam Graves
Chairman
House Committee – Transportation & Infrastructure
2165 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito
Chairman
Senate Committee – Environment & Public Works
410 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Tim Scott
Chairman
Senate Committee – Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Rick Larsen
Ranking Member
House Committee – Transportation & Infrastructure
2165 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse
Ranking Member
Senate Committee – Environment & Public Works
410 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Elizabeth Warren
Ranking Member
Senate Committee – Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
RE: Intermountain West MPO Perspectives on the BUILD America 250 Act
Dear Chairman Graves, Chairman Capito, Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Larsen, Ranking Member Whitehouse, and Ranking Member Warren:
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) of the Intermountain West – Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Washington – appreciate the leadership of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in advancing the BUILD America 250 Act and laying the groundwork for the next federal surface transportation reauthorization bill. Our regions—including some of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas—rely on a strong federal-state-regional-local transportation partnership to maintain mobility, support economic competitiveness, and accommodate quality of life as our areas continue to grow. Overall, we view the proposal as a strong foundation for reauthorization. The bill refines the framework established under recent transportation authorizations, preserving robust federal investment levels and advancing the valuable role that MPOs play in regional transportation planning and project development.
BUILD America 250 includes several provisions that are particularly beneficial to metropolitan regions. We would like to see the following important provisions prioritized and included in the subsequent Senate titles and final version of the bill:
- Continued support for core formula programs that provide states and MPOs with predictable funding to address regional transportation needs.
- Increases to key MPO-administered programs, including Metropolitan Planning (PL) funds and the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBG). A 22% increase over 5-years in PL is a meaningful start, but those gains are somewhat offset with inflationary impacts. PL funds are the core source of federal financial support for MPOs to conduct transportation planning and are the foundation of project delivery. If it doesn’t get planned, it doesn’t get built.
- Preservation and enhancement of local funding set-asides within the Bridge Investment Program, and the new Surface Transportation Assistance Grant (STAG) Program, ensuring that metropolitan regions and local governments continue to have direct access to transportation funding for projects that address community priorities and regional needs.
- Continuation of the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, which has provided valuable resources to local governments seeking to improve transportation safety and reduce roadway fatalities.
- Improvements to the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program, including bipartisanly supported language offered by Representative Burgess Owens (UT) that would allow for the consideration of population growth and transit-oriented planning rate when fixed-guideway projects are evaluated in the Capital Investment Grant Program. This change recognizes the realities facing rapidly growing metropolitan areas throughout the Intermountain West, and the opportunity to coordinate development and transit investment.
- Inclusion of project delivery and permitting reforms intended to streamline the efficiency of federal review processes. This is a critical theme of BA250 that provides greater predictability, reduces duplicative reviews, and accelerates project implementation while maintaining meaningful environmental stewardship, public involvement, and coordination with local and regional planning processes.
We encourage Congress to continue refining the proposal as reauthorization advances, and would ask that the following be considered:
- Additional investment in core formula programs remains warranted. Although the bill provides increases for programs such as PL and STBG, rapidly growing metropolitan regions continue to face transportation demands that outpace available resources. Greater investment in PL and STBG would provide MPOs, local governments, and states with the ability to address region-specific priorities while improving system performance and reliability.
- We remain concerned that the proposal does not meaningfully address the long-term structural challenges facing the Highway Trust Fund. While maintaining current funding levels provides near-term certainty, a sustainable revenue solution will ultimately be necessary to ensure the continued viability of the federal transportation program. We encourage Congress to examine highway formula funding fairness. Current apportionment methodologies continue to rely on outdated data that do not fully reflect the significant population growth experienced by many western states. Fast-growing regions are often required to accommodate substantial increases in travel demand before federal formula distributions fully recognize those changes. Reauthorization presents an opportunity to modernize funding formulas and better align federal investment with current population and transportation realities.
- We are monitoring the proposed Highway Block Grant Program (Sec. 1128) and other provisions that could alter the distribution of federal transportation resources. While additional flexibility can be beneficial, any new funding structure should be carefully evaluated to ensure it preserves transparency, predictability, and equitable distribution among growing states and metropolitan regions.
- We encourage considering the inclusion of advance appropriations for core transportation programs. The use of advance appropriations in the IIJA provided valuable funding certainty and helped ensure that transportation agencies could effectively deliver major infrastructure investments. This is particularly important for transit programs, which would otherwise experience a substantial reduction from IIJA funding levels despite continued growth in demand and infrastructure needs across many metropolitan regions.
As Congress continues work on surface transportation reauthorization, the MPOs of the Intermountain West look forward to partnering with federal policymakers to strengthen the bill and ensure that transportation investments support the needs of rapidly growing communities. We appreciate the committee’s efforts to preserve the core federal transportation program while providing targeted improvements and look forward to continued dialogue on how best to position the nation’s transportation system for the next generation of growth and opportunity.
Sincerely,
Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (ID)
Denver Regional Council Of Governments (CO)
Maricopa Association of Governments (AZ)
Mountainland Association of Governments (UT)
North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization (CO)
Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (CO)
Pima Association of Governments (AZ)
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (NV)
Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (NV)
Sacramento Area Council of Governments (CA)
Spokane Regional Transportation Council (WA)
Wasatch Front Regional Council (UT)