The Odessa Record -

Congress will soon have an opportunity to vote on the INVEST in America Act, a $547 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, led by Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio.

One of the major elements of the bill is a substantial increase in the percentage of money dedicated to public transit. For the last 40 years, the Highway Trust Fund, funded by an 18.4 cent/gallon gas tax and 24.4 cent/gallon diesel fuel tax, spent 80 percent of the funding on roads, and sent 20 percent to transit (the “80/20 split”). Due to diversion...