{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://carson.house.gov/media/press-releases/carson-passes-amendment-votes-preserve-infrastructure-funding", "Carson Passes Amendment, Votes to Preserve Infrastructure Funding", "2026-05-22", "2026", "2026-05", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Andr\u00e9 Carson", "C001072", "carson.house.gov", "carson", "https://carson.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "May 22, 2026\n\nWASHINGTON, DC\u2014Today, Congressman Carson voted to advance the Build America 250 Act, which includes Carson\u2019s amendment to improve motorcycle safety. The bill passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and will advance to the House floor in the coming weeks.\n\nThe Build America 250 Act makes significant investments in the nation\u2019s infrastructure, with a total of $580 billion in authorized and guaranteed funding, including $8.3 billion for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, $64 billion for Amtrak, and $87.5 billion in guaranteed transit funding.\n\n\u201cThe Bipartisan Infrastructure Law brought unprecedented levels of funding to Indiana \u2013 from IndyGo, to highway repairs, to broadband infrastructure,\u201d said Congressman Carson. \u201cNow, we\u2019re building on that progress. In addition, my amendment will help protect motorcyclists from unfair profiling when they are pulled over for traffic stops just because of their appearance while riding motorcycles. The bill will also support bicyclist and pedestrians\u2014because our streets should be safe for all.\u201d\n\nThe Carson amendment is endorsed by the American Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE) of Indiana and other motorcycle safety organizations.\n\n\u201cMotorcyclists nationwide will benefit from this protection,\u201d said Jay Jackson, Executive Director, ABATE of Indiana. \u201cIt\u2019s all about treatment that is fair and just. We greatly appreciate Congressman Carson taking the lead in offering this amendment.\u201d\n\nAccomplishments in the Build America 250 Act include:\n\nSignificant Investments in Infrastructure:\n\n$580 billion in authorized and guaranteed funding.\n\n$473.8 billion in guaranteed funding through the Highway Trust Fund.\n\n$87.5 billion in guaranteed transit funding, comparable to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).\n\n$64 billion in authorized funding for Amtrak and competitive rail grant programs.\n\n$45 billion in guaranteed bridge funding\u2014a $5 billion increase from the BIL.\n\n$12 billion for a new Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant program available to local communities of all sizes.\n\n$8.3 billion for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure through the Transportation Alternatives Program.\n\n$4 billion for the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP), an increase of $250 million from the BIL, to bring more transit stations into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.\n\nAdvancing Rail Safety and Service\n\nCongressman Carson offered two amendments to support workers at US rail maintenance facilities by preventing workforce reductions and ensures employees are covered by current labor protections.\n\nDemocrats fought hard to improve rail safety in the BUILD America 250 Act and achieved meaningful progress in several areas, including accelerating the phase-out of dangerous tank cars, requiring Class I railroads to join the Confidential Close Call Reporting System, and requiring passenger rail operators to have assault and harassment prevention plans.\n\nOn an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the committee passed the Rail Safety Act, which addresses many of the issues that resulted in the toxic freight train derailment in East Palestine.\n\nThe bill also allows states to upgrade stations and purchase rail equipment for state-supported routes by expanding eligibility in the State Transportation Block Grants program.\n\nDemocrats pushed to ensure additional rail safety provisions can be considered during the markup process and will support amendments to strengthen rail safety.\n\nGiving Local Communities More Control\n\nThe BUILD America 250 Act provides funding and grant opportunities important to local governments, including:\n\nThe Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program and the new Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant program, which supports a broad array of highway, transit and rail projects in urban, suburban, and rural communities.\n\n$11 billion in guaranteed funding for locally owned bridge projects and a higher federal share for locally owned bridges off the federal-aid highway system.\n\nThe bill directly allocates planning funding to Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), providing more authority over federal funds for urban areas.\n\nLocal governments are eligible to apply for approximately $30 billion in authorized rail improvement funds.\n\nSupporting Clean Transportation and the Environment\n\nInstead of the Republicans\u2019 proposed $250 fee, the BUILD America 250 Act includes a $130 fee for EVs and a $35 fee for plug-ins. These fees provide improvements to the Highway Trust Fund so that all roadway users can contribute to the upkeep and safety of public roads. While these are not tied to inflation, they will slowly increase year-over-year until reaching $150 and $50, respectively, in eight years.\n\nThe bill streamlines permitting reviews for environmentally friendly projects, like active transportation and transit, to make it easier to build cleaner and greener infrastructure in the future.\n\nThe bill requires states to invest $1 billion in alternative fuel infrastructure\u2014including EV charging\u2014under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program.\n\nThe bill maintains $500 million in annual funding for PROTECT grants to make surface transportation more resilient to the changing climate. Advancing Rail Safety and Service.\n\n###\n\nIssues:Transportation", 1, "2026-06-27T21:44:12Z", "2026-06-27T22:21:02Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://carson.house.gov/media/press-releases/carson-passes-amendment-votes-preserve-infrastructure-funding"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.231672940775752, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}