House Subcommittee Approves $52 Billion Transportation, Housing Spending Bill

House appropriators on May 7 easily approved a $52 billion spending bill that would fund transportation and housing programs in fiscal 2015.

The bill calls for significantly less funding for a popular infrastructure grant program, lifting truck weight limits in three states and would leave it up to House policy writers to devise a plan to keep a federal highway account from going bankrupt.

The fiscal 2015 House Transportation and Housing and Urban Development appropriations legislation, approved by a voice vote, would provide $40.25 billion in formula highway spending for the federal Highway Trust Fund, matching the 2014 level. That funding would be contingent on adoption of a transportation policy bill that would update the programs in MAP-21, the 2012 highway law which expires at the end of September.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said he is “hopeful” the policy writers on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee “can devise a way to fix the problems facing” the Highway Trust Fund.

Money from the trust fund is used to help states cover the costs of certain infrastructure projects. The national tax on fuel is used to finance the account, but due to improved fuel efficiency and altered driving habit, the Department of Transportation estimates the trust fund will be insolvent by August.

“Allowing those funds to run dry will only add to the uncertainty in our economy,” Rogers said.

The full House Appropriations Committee could take up the spending measure the week of May 19, Rogers indicated. Senate Democrats who control that chamber have yet to unveil their version.

The House bill would be $1.2 billion above the fiscal 2014 enacted level and $7.8 billion below the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request. It would provide $100 million for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Act (TIGER) grant program — $500 million below the fiscal 2014 enacted level and $1.15 billion below the administration’s fiscal 2015 request.

The administration is a staunch supporter of the program, and Department of Transportation officials told Transport Topics that later this month they would announce which cities and states will be awarded the next TIGER grants.

The House bill also would provide $824 million for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, $572 million for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and $205.2 million for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Tucked in the bill are provisions that would lift truck weight restrictions in Idaho, Mississippi and Wisconsin. Full committee ranking Democrat Rep. Nita Lowey of New York opposed those provisions, calling them “controversial” and with the potential to “hinder the bill’s progress.”

Lowey suggested House Democrats would propose amendments to the bill during its full committee consideration aimed at increasing funding for the TIGER grants and housing programs, as well as others related to truck weight limits.