Noem Helps Drive Long-Term Highway Bill through the House

Noem Helps Drive Long-Term Highway Bill through the House

First long-term highway bill since 2005
receives final approval in the House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today helped the U.S. House of Representatives move forward the first long-term highway bill since 2005. The bipartisan Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act is a fully funded, five-year highway bill aimed at improving the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure. With House approval of the conference agreement, the legislation will move to the Senate before heading to the President, who is expected to sign the bill.

“South Dakota has 80,000 miles of highways, roads, and streets. We have about 6,000 bridges and thousands of miles of railways. Our farmers, our businesses, our families depend on the safety and reliability of this infrastructure,” said Rep. Noem. “Today’s legislation is going to give our state and local governments the certainty they need to plan and conduct necessary maintenance on this intricate network of roads, bridges and railways. It’s going to give our local teams more flexibility to address their unique transportation priorities as well. In the end, I’m hopeful this will be a big win for all of South Dakota, helping to fuel continued economic opportunity and greater safety for our families and communities.”

The fully funded FAST Act increases highway spending by 15 percent and transit spending by 18 percent over five years, meaning South Dakota would receive $133 million more than it would have under current funding levels. Additionally, the bill creates an incentive grant for states with 24-7 sobriety programs for drunk drivers and removes a requirement that asked states to collect excessive data on unpaved and gravel roads – both are important priorities for South Dakota.

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