Jared Huffman to serve on House panel overseeing transportation, infrastructure

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, was named Friday to a key House transportation committee, a position that the North Coast congressman said he hopes to use to advocate for federal funding for local projects, including commuter rail, highway widening and waterway dredging.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced Huffman’s appointment to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which has jurisdiction over the Department of Transportation, Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard and the upkeep of the nation’s roads, bridges, highways, ferries, waterways and pipelines.

“I look forward to bringing fresh ideas to the table to ensure Congress invests in critically needed updates to transportation infrastructure on the North Coast and throughout the nation,” Huffman said in a statement. “California’s 2nd Congressional District contains a diverse swath of transportation infrastructure needs .”

Huffman said that in the era since congressional earmarks were banned, a position on a committee with the authority to authorize projects is an important way of directing policy to benefit local districts.