Cramer Questions Secretary of Transportation on One Federal Decision, Formula Funding

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a hearing today, officially kicking off the process for development of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy testified before the committee, providing input on the Trump Administration's priorities. Prior to his service as Secretary of Transportation, Duffy represented Wisconsin's 7^th district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), chair of the Senate EPW Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, questioned Duffy on the One Federal Decision framework from the first Trump administration. One Federal Decision, which was championed by Cramer and later included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), was designed to streamline the burdensome permitting process by setting deadlines and reducing duplicative reviews, allowing infrastructure projects to be built more expeditiously.

"One of the things we did put in the current bill is codifying the One Federal Decision rule of the first Trump administration, and yet I haven't seen a great application of that for the last four years in the permitting of a lot of these projects either," asked Cramer.

"We do have to streamline the process even further with One Federal Decision taking the full meaning of the legislation in the language," responded Duffy.

Cramer then discussed the importance of providing highway funds to States through a set formula so money is not funneled to just population hubs, an approach he worked to maintain in the BIL. He expressed support for EPW Committee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito's (R-WV) emphasis on continuing this trusted approach in the reauthorization bill, which ensures states have consistent funding and flexibility to meet their constituents needs. Cramer also highlighted the vital role of infrastructure in rural states, which facilitates the movement of people and goods across the county. He noted without well-maintained routes like I-94, durum wheat from North Dakota would never become pasta in New York.

"I know the political realities of it as well, but I would just be interested in you, coming from the middle of America in a pretty rural district, if you could just elaborate maybe a little bit on that commitment to formula funding in in the next bill as well, helping people understand formula funding recognizes that the miles of road are just about as important as how many people are in any particular mile of that road?" asked Cramer.

"We can't focus on urban centers, and forget rural America," answered Duffy. "Making sure that again, a lot of products come from the places where we live and they might move from roads to trains to ships, but making sure that there's a complete view of infrastructure is incredibly important. And I would share the view of this committee, I think that we have to have a holistic view of how we build out infrastructure."