WASHINGTON, DC—Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) President Edward Wytkind issues this statement on the House Republican budget unveiled by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI):
“There is no question that the Ryan Budget plan released today would devastate our transportation system and destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process while locking in a friendly tax code for the super-rich for the next decade. We reject this misguided approach. While funding levels for specific programs were not released today, we know the plan targets transportation investments for cuts at a time when our economy is in desperate need of job-creating proposals and our transportation system suffers from chronic neglect, record congestion and failing infrastructure.
“The budget outline embraces a view rejected by members of both parties: that the job-creating characteristics of transit, highway and other transportation investments have somehow been ‘oversold.’ Rep. Ryan should tell that to governors and mayors struggling to create jobs or to transportation and construction workers who are working today because of responsible federal investments that would be slashed or eliminated under this proposal. Ryan’s zeal for eliminating high-speed rail is both short-sighted and appears based entirely on a political axe to grind with the current occupant of the White House. And his plan to hollow out investments in our freight and passenger transportation systems should worry businesses trying to compete in a global economy. This is not how we should make transportation policy or investment decisions.
“This bill also slashes our federal workforce by 10 percent over the next two years – workers who both operate and maintain transportation systems on the ground, and who keep our skies safe. If this is Rep. Ryan’s vision for America’s transportation future and economy, we say ‘no thanks’ and will work to defeat it.”
CONTACT: Jennifer Michels, jenniferm@ttd.org, 202.628.9262, 703.395.2195