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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Gov. Kelly Armstrong testified on July 16 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, urging lawmakers to maintain robust funding for transportation infrastructure, provide maximum flexibility for states and streamline the permitting and regulatory processes to reduce project delays and costs.
The governor thanked the committee’s chair, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a committee member, for inviting him to testify and offer a state’s point of view during a hearing titled “Constructing the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill: Stakeholders’ Perspectives.”
“In rural states like ours, transportation infrastructure isn’t merely about convenience – it’s a pillar of our communities and thriving local economies,” Armstrong testified on behalf of the National Governors Association. “Our highways, roads and bridges are essential lifelines connecting our agricultural producers, energy industry, small businesses and families to markets, health care, education and emergency services.”
“My request for this Committee today is simple: continue providing robust funding, give maximum flexibility to states and watch us go to work,” he continued. “A key piece of ensuring states can successfully and efficiently build projects is formula-based funding. The next highway bill should maintain or increase the percentage of program dollars distributed by formula, allowing states to more quickly deliver critical transportation projects. This is especially important in states like North Dakota that don’t have that long of a construction season.”
Armstrong also urged policymakers to use surface transportation reauthorization to enact bipartisan permitting reform and streamline the permitting process.
“Robust funding is important, but all the money in the world means nothing if it can’t be deployed because of a broken permitting system,” Armstrong stated in his written testimony, adding, “Our current regulatory framework imposes excessive delays and escalating costs, and injects uncertainty into critical infrastructure projects. It also discourages private sector investment, while making federal investment less effective and efficient.”
Armstrong, who served six years as North Dakota’s lone member of Congress before being elected governor last November, said the Senate committee and their House colleagues have “a real opportunity to ensure efficiency, certainty and transparency in the permitting process, all while protecting our environment.”