The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
United States House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
S-230, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives
H-204, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
United States Senate
S-221, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader McCarthy, and Leader Schumer:
As you know, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided desperately needed support to keep public transportation services across the country from coming to a complete halt. To that end, your bold leadership has already protected hundreds of thousands of jobs and is ensuring that critical employees including health care workers, law enforcement personnel, and first responders can get to and from work each day in rural and urban communities alike. We write today to urge you to continue that leadership by including $32 billion in emergency supplemental funds for public transit in the next COVID response bill.
It has become clear that this ongoing crisis is much more costly than previously anticipated, and that public transportation will need another significant infusion to remain operational for the foreseeable future. Fifteen of the largest public transit agencies in the country recently sent you a letter projecting deficits as high as $8.9 billion due to lost farebox receipts, decreased tax revenue, and increased costs associated with the pandemic. The Metropolitan Transportation Association (MTA) has estimated that transit programs across the country will need an additional $32 billion through the end of 2021. The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO and the undersigned unions agree with this assessment and strongly encourage you to appropriate this level of funding.
Yesterday, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) outlined a clear case for why significant additional funding will be necessary to fund transit systems through FY 2021. We agree with the spirit of APTA’s analysis and request; however, it is clear that the $23.8 billion they call for is far too conservative an estimate, and would be insufficient to fully address the problems our systems are facing.
On behalf of all essential workers and others who utilize transit across the country, we urge you to include at least $32 billion in any new COVID response vehicle in order to maintain the safe, healthy operation of public transportation.
Sincerely,
Amalgamated Transit Union
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, SEIU
Transportation Communications Union/IAM
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Transport Workers Union of America
CC: The Honorable Peter DeFazio
The Honorable Samuel Graves
The Honorable Nita Lowey
The Honorable Kay Granger
The Honorable David E. Price
The Honorable Mario Diaz-Balart
The Honorable Michael Crapo
The Honorable Sherrod Brown
The Honorable Richard Shelby
The Honorable Patrick Leahy
The Honorable Susan Collins
The Honorable Jack Reed