EUNICE M. ULLOA KAREN C. COMSTOCK
Mayor CHRISTOPHER FLORES
MARC LUCIO
Council Members
CURTIS BURTON DR. LINDA REICH
Mayor Pro Tem City Manager
CITY of CHINO
May 5, 2026
The Honorable Norma Torres
2227 Rayburn House Office Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Via email: [email protected] and [email protected] Dear Congresswoman Torres:
On behalf of the City of Chino, I write in support of the Bridges and Safety Infrastructure for Community Success (BASICS) Act (H.R. 7437). This bipartisan bill would make significant improvements to federal transportation programs to help more local governments, like the City of Chino, access reliable funding for crucial regional priority transportation projects and bridge and safety improvements.
As owners and operators of 75% of the country's public road miles and nearly half of U.S. bridges, local governments like Chino are responsible for maintaining almost half of the nation's transportation assets for the safety of our traveling public, yet recent analysis shows that while local governments own 43% of the Federal Aid road network less than 15 percent of federal formula funding makes it down to local priority projects. We urge you to address the discrepancy between our current responsibility and lack of access to funding to better advance national and regional priorities, foster economic development, and improve safety by supporting the formula program changes outlined in BASICS Act (H.R. 7437)
Congress now has an opportunity to work directly with cities like ours to reauthorize and realign transportation policy with ownership realities, empowering local leaders to deliver safer, faster, and more accountable projects. The bipartisan BASICS Act provides a strong framework for how to do that. This bill, which is endorsed by organizations representing more than 25,000 individual counties, cities, towns, planning agencies, and regional economic development organizations across the United States, would increase the share of federal formula funding that is available to local governments while also making necessary process improvements to ensure formula funds reach locally selected projects.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 667, Chino, California 91708-0667 (909) 334-3250 • (909) 334-3720 Fax
Web Site: www.cityofchino.org
Hon. Norma Torres
May 5, 2026
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Specifically, this bill would:
• Grow the versatile Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program, which provides flexible funding that benefits both states and locals.
• Provide our community and other local governments with access to federal formula funding for bridges and safety infrastructure.
• Support metropolitan planning organizations and fortify project selection authority to ensure locally selected projects properly advance with federal funding. • Fund rural and regional transportation planning organizations to boost the capacity of rural areas and improve their access to formula funding.
• Strengthen the intergovernmental partnership by promoting increased coordination between states, cities, and other units of local government.
We strongly support the continuation of critical grant program opportunities like BUILD, Railroad Crossing Elimination, Safe Streets, and more, but the provisions in the BASICS Act are important for ensuring that local governments have a reliable baseline level of access to federal formula funding in the next reauthorization bill, especially if there will be an emphasis on consolidating discretionary opportunities and prioritizing formula funding.
As Congress continues to develop the next surface transportation reauthorization bill, local governments urge you to cosponsor H.R. 7437 and to ask Committee leadership to include provisions from the BASICS Act in its base legislation, which is expected soon.
Sincerely,
Busin las
Mayor
CC: Chino City Council