Tom Petri, R-Wisc.

Tom Petri, R-Wisc.

Veteran transportation legislator Tom Petri, R-Wisc., will not run for reelection this fall.

Rep. Petri was scheduled to make the announcement Monday afternoon at a town hall meeting in Neenah, Wisc.

Petri chairs the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he is a key figure in drafting the next highway bill.

He has been a prominent decision maker in trucking policy matters ranging from highways to safety regulation, often presiding over contentious debates with a native Midwest unflappability.

Last year, for example, he summed up a hearing on truck driver hours of service with a smile and the observation that it had been “civil and somewhat contentious.”

Petri, 74, has been in the House since 1979. He is third in seniority among Republicans on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The fourth-ranking member, Howard Coble of North Carolina, also is retiring this year, leaving Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee next in line. On the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, Don Young of Alaska is next in seniority.

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