Buttigieg: U.S. must fund transit of future

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, appeared on a smooth path to quick confirmation, pledging to senators Thursday to help carry out the administration’s ambitious agenda to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.

Speaking at his confirmation hearing with his husband sitting nearby, Buttigieg pointed to a “generational opportunity” to create new jobs, fight economic inequality and stem climate change. He pledged more conversations with Congress on programs that will require significant investments in the months to come.

“We need to build our economy back, better than ever, and the Department of Transportation can play a central role in this,” the 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told the Senate Commerce Committee. He pointed to opportunities in updating auto emissions regulations that President Donald Trump had loosened and building out a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.

Buttigieg did not specify where

money could come from for big investments in infrastructure but wouldn’t rule out a tax increase and floated the possibility of a major change in how highways are funded.

Buttigieg, a former Democratic presidential candidate, was one of the few 2020 contenders to outright endorse converting from the current Highway Trust Fund, which is paid for through the gas tax, to a “vehicle miles traveled” alternative that would tax drivers based on their road mileage.

“All options are on the table,” Buttigieg said Thursday.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who chaired the hearing Thursday for a last time as the Senate finalized its transfer of power to Democrats, signaled likely challenges in finding ways to pay for a costly infrastructure overhaul but said he looked forward to working with Buttigieg.

“I’m quite certain he will be confirmed,” Wicker told the hearing.

Buttigieg would take over at a critical time for transportation, charged with implementing Biden’s proposals to spend billions of dollars making major infrastructure improvements and on retrofitting initiatives that can help the U.S. battle climate change.

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated many modes of transportation, with airlines, city subway systems and Amtrak seeking federal aid to help keep afloat.

Biden’s infrastructure plan, the full details of which are expected to be released next month, is likely to draw heavy attention and pose the biggest challenges. Biden has yet to specify how he intends to pay for new infrastructure spending.

During Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, his administration often held “Infrastructure Week” events and touted transportation improvements. But it was not able to push Congress to pass any broad plan to update the nation’s roads and bridges, rails and airports.

Pete Buttigieg