For Immediate Release
Contact: Jonna Huseman, jhuseman@twu.org
Biden Budget Offers Commonsense Short-Term Flexibility Transit Agencies Need
Washington, DC—John Samuelsen, International President of the Transport Workers Union, issues this statement in response to President Biden’s budget proposal:
“President Biden’s budget includes an essential policy change that would allow large transit agencies to fill short-term operating shortfalls with their federal subsidies. The TWU has been fighting for exactly this kind of flexibility for years, and particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic befell us. It is far past time for this obvious, commonsense policy fix to federal law.
“The TWU is leading the fight for a permanent federal fix that ensures transit agencies can access federal funds for both operations and capital investment. Absent federal operating money, the very real possibility exists that transit systems will have capital money for new buses and trains, and miles of new railroad track, but no operating money to deliver enhanced service. Mass Transit simply cannot exist without both kinds of investment and the artificial line between capital and operating monies serves to undermine our shared goals of safe, frequent, and reliable transit service across the country. Not only should Congress provide the short-term flexibility requested by the President, they should enact a permanent solution that allows all transit agencies to access federal funds for operations.”