Congressman Robert Garcia Fights to Fund Public Transportation for Host Cities of 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) led a bipartisan letter with 19 colleagues to Speaker Mike Johnson, Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee to advocate for $200 million in federal funding for the 2028 Olympics in this year’s federal funding legislation. These resources will ensure that 2028 Olympic host cities have the necessary public transit buses to move visitors and residents during the Games. To read the full letter, click here.
“We are thrilled that the Olympic and Paralympic Games are coming to Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2028, which is why we must do everything we can to set the cities up for success,” said Congressman Robert Garcia. “The Olympic Games will draw in hundreds of thousands of people, and we need to have the necessary infrastructure to handle this influx. That’s why we’re fighting to fund our public transportation agencies and ensure our U.S. host cities have the capacity to have a safe, clean, and effective transit system.”
The 2028 Summer Olympics will be hosted in Los Angeles, CA, Long Beach, CA, and Oklahoma City, OK. During previous US-hosted games, including Atlanta and Salt Lake City, federal funding was provided to allow public transit agencies throughout the country to donate or lease buses to the host public transportation agencies and the host city Olympic committee. This program allowed host communities to effectively scale their transportation infrastructure to meet the unique challenges posed by all games.
The Senate Appropriations Committee included $200 million for the 2028 Olympic Games in their Transportation, House and Urban Development funding bill; while the House-passed bill did not include any Olympics bus funding. The letter supports the Senate funding for a final package to be negotiated this year.
Congressman Garcia has always fought to improve our nation’s transportation infrastructure. In May, Congressman Garcia joined Senator Elizabeth Warren to introduce the BUILD GREEN Infrastructure and Jobs Act, to distribute $500 billion over ten years to electrify and modernize public vehicles and rail and build new electric transportation infrastructure across the country. In March, Congressman Garcia led a record 128 Representatives in a letter supporting full funding for transit Capital Investment Grants. Last year, Congressman Garcia introduced the People Over Parking Act, which would ban minimum requirements for parking spaces near transit hubs and promote housing density and walkability in urban areas. As Mayor of Long Beach, his signature ballot initiative, Measure A, launched the largest infrastructure repair program in a generation, promoting good-paying union jobs.
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