A group of U.S. Senators recently introduced the bipartisan Transportation Infrastructure Grants and Economic Reinvestment (TIGER) Act, legislation that would give the Secretary of Transportation permanent authority to offer grants and loans for critical transportation projects.
The legislation was introduced by U.S. Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
The Department of Transportation’s TIGER program was originally created as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. It allows local governments, ports and transit agencies to requests grants and loan through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.
“The TIGER program represents exactly the type of investment our country should be making--addressing our nation’s long-standing transportation needs while creating good-paying, American jobs,” Murray, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, said. “I was proud to put the wheels in motion on this program during the depths of the recession when our nation needed jobs the most, but based on the demand that continues to this day, it’s clear, we can and should be doing so much more to help communities carry out projects that make our transportation systems safer and more efficient.
If the bill is signed into law, the program will become permanent.
"One of my highest priorities in the Senate is working to ensure that our nation's transportation infrastructure does not fall into disrepair,” Collins, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, said. “Across the country, and in my home state of Maine, TIGER grants have been essential to rebuilding our infrastructure, getting our economy moving, creating jobs, and providing increased public safety."
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