Fwd: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Update: Your Summit Asks & the BUILD America 250 Act
Jim Baross
---------- Forwarded message ---------
Date: Mon, Jun 15, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Subject: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Update: Your Summit Asks & the BUILD America 250 Act
To: Will Simpson <wi...@bikeleague.org>
Dear National Bike Summit attendees,
Thank you again for joining us in Washington this past March and, for those who walked the halls on Lobby Day, for carrying our asks directly to your members of Congress. We have an important update on where things stand.
When you met with your representatives and senators in March, you made three asks tied to the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization:
- A robust Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) that is not merged with other programs, paired with co-sponsorship of the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act
- Continued funding for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, with local control maintained
- Preservation of the Vulnerable Road User (VRU) Special Rule
We're glad to report that your advocacy worked. On May 18, 2026, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released the BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870), a five-year, roughly $580 billion surface transportation reauthorization package, and approved it on May 22 by a bipartisan vote of 62-2. Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) developed the bill as a bipartisan compromise after a 14-hour markup. Overall, it is not a great bill, but it is better than most advocates expected. It repeals almost all the programs related to climate that were new in 2021, and increases the funds that go to highways relative to transit, but it saves discretionary grants and enhances local control. When it comes to our Summit asks, the bill delivered most of what you asked for.
Here's how the asks fared in the House bill:
TAP — Stayed a stand-alone program with an increase in funding, and it includes the Langenkamp provision (S. 944), giving states flexibility to use Highway Safety dollars for local match. Recreational Trails remains funded. (We still have concerns: the bill removes some safeguards for local government access and doesn't grow Rec Trails alongside regular TAP.)
SS4A — Remains a stand-alone program and increases the federal match to 90%. (However, it reduces funding from $1 billion to $500 million in the first year and decreases the planning set-aside.)
VRU Safety Rule — The Vulnerable Road User Assessment and Special Rule are both maintained.
These are real wins, and your meetings made the difference. The attached one-page analysis lays out the full picture—where the BUILD America 250 Act helps bicycling and walking, and where we'll keep pushing as the process continues.
What comes next: this is the House bill only. The Senate has not yet released its own reauthorization text, and current authorities expire on September 30, 2026, so there is still work to be done before a final bill is negotiated between the chambers. It's also possible Congress passes a short-term extension of current authorities rather than completing a full reauthorization by the deadline. That isn't necessarily bad news for us: even if work carries over into a new Congress, committees will be tempted to start where they left off, which means the House bill—with most of our asks already included—will serve as the starting point for those talks, putting us in a strong negotiating position. That said, much depends on the makeup of the next Congress; if control of the House shifts between parties, committee leadership and priorities could change, and the starting point for negotiations may look different. We'll keep you posted on opportunities to weigh in, especially on the Senate side and on the provisions where we're still seeking improvements
Thank you for being part of this. None of this happens without you showing up!
Best,
Will Simpson, MPP (he/him),
Federal Policy Fellow