ICYMI: Capito Op-Ed: The Surface Transportation Opportunity Before Us

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an op-ed published in the Washington Times, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, detailed her vision for the upcoming Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill. In the piece, Chairman Capito outlines three key principles that she believes are important for this reauthorization to achieve, and priorities that will address issues within our country’s surface transportation network.

“When it comes to my vision for the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill, I have three key principles that I believe will jumpstart this conversation. By focusing on these fundamental outcomes, I’m confident that we can work towards a legislative solution that will deliver results for the American people,” Chairman Capito writes.

The full op-ed is available here and below.

The Surface Transportation Opportunity Before Us
By: U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
The Washington Times
March 27, 2025

Our roads and bridges are what connect us to the people and things that matter most in our lives, and all the places we travel to every day. They help American businesses, large and small, create jobs and economic opportunities, and enable their competitiveness in the global marketplace. They connect everything around us from Point A to Point B.

The responsibility given to Congress to ensure a safe and reliable transportation network for our country originates in Article One of our Constitution and was affirmed when the Federal Aid Road Act was enacted in 1916. Today, the Federal-aid Highway Program provides the funding and policy for the transportation network that all Americans and businesses rely on -- and that network requires continued investment and improvement. This is something I know well, and I’m thrilled to be the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee during a Congress where we will need to pass a surface transportation reauthorization bill.

This legislation supports the Federal-aid Highway Program, among other important policies and funding priorities that impact surface transportation in our country. While some might look at this as a legislative challenge, I view it as an incredible opportunity. Throughout my tenure on the EPW Committee, I have made infrastructure a central priority. Now as chairman, I look forward to continuing my work to modernize our transportation network.

When it comes to my vision for the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill, I have three key principles that I believe will jumpstart this conversation. By focusing on these fundamental outcomes, I’m confident that we can work towards a legislative solution that will deliver results for the American people.

Principle One: Improving the safety and reliability of America’s surface transportation network with impactful investments. In recent years, we’ve seen a major increase in the number of federal transportation programs. This leads to a duplicative and confusing process to get funding out the door, disrupts the focus of federal funding, and lessens the impact that the Federal-aid Highway Program can make.

We can make investments that instead optimize the impact of federal funding by prioritizing our commitment to the safe and reliable movement of goods and people, and giving project partners certainty to invest over a longer period of time. We should focus on eliminating duplicative programs that often invite regulatory overreach, and rather increase funding for the highway formula programs that our states rely on.

Principle Two: Reforming and modernizing federal programs and policies to increase efficiency. We all know that, as currently structured, federal requirements can add red tape that increases costs and slows down project completion. We all want to deliver transportation benefits faster and save money for American taxpayers. That’s truly a win-win.

We need to take a serious look at federal requirements to determine how to best make improvements to our planning and procurement procedures, environmental review process for projects, and discretionary grants and loans requirements. By reforming and modernizing these requirements, we can create certainty for partners who make these projects happen.

Principle Three: Addressing the variety of surface transportation needs across all states. Obviously, different states have different needs. I wouldn’t expect West Virginia, with our mountainous peaks and valleys, to prioritize the same transportation projects as other states in different parts of the country.

By avoiding top-down mandates from Washington, D.C., we can provide the flexibility needed to address the individual improvements our states require. The Federal-aid Highway Program can support our common goals while ensuring that federal rules, regulations, programs, or policies recognize these different needs in our states.

The vision I’ve laid out is broad, but that’s intentional. It will take the collaboration of my Senate colleagues and many others as we move toward completing the bill before September 2026. We must always be pragmatic, and work in a bipartisan fashion to develop a bill in the Senate that sets us up for a productive conversation on this reauthorization effort across both chambers of Congress.

At the end of the day, we all know how important our surface transportation is, and the role that it plays in keeping our country’s economy and people on the move. There is an excellent opportunity ahead of us to make a pivotal impact on our transportation network, and one that I intend to see through.

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito is the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and also serves on the Appropriations, Commerce, and Rules Committees. She is the Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, making her the fourth highest ranked Senate Republican.

 

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