Senate Subcommittee Approves $54.4 Billion Transportation, Housing Spending Bill

Senate appropriators on June 3 easily approved a $54.4 billion spending bill that would fund transportation and housing programs in fiscal 2015, and boost funding for a popular infrastructure grant program.

The Senate bill would provide $550 million for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Act (TIGER) grants — $50 million below the fiscal 2014 enacted level. The House’s legislative version would provide $100 million. For fiscal 2015, the Obama administration requested $1.25 billion for the program, which is used by cities and states to revamp major infrastructure projects said to be of regional or national significance.

Overall, the fiscal 2015 Senate Transportation and Housing and Urban Development appropriations legislation, approved by a voice vote, is more than the Obama administration’s request of $51 million and the fiscal 2014 enacted level of $50.8 billion. Sponsors said the bill was an investment in the country’s transportation system, yet it does not provide a funding solution for the dwindling federal Highway Trust Fund account.

Instead, the bill’s writers provided $40.3 billion for federal-aid highway programs that would be contingent on a funding system that would have to be authorized by tax and policy writers in the chamber. On June 3, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she remains “hopeful that Congress will work together to avoid this unnecessary and preventable crisis.”

The House bill, expected to be debated on the floor the week of June 9, would provide the trust fund with $40.25 billion in formula highway spending. House appropriators, much like their Senate counterparts, noted that funding would be contingent on the adoption of a transportation policy bill that would update the programs in the 2012 highway law MAP-21. The law expires at the end of September.

The trust fund is how the Department of Transportation gives states money to cover the costs of certain highway projects. Its revenues come from a national tax on gas and diesel fuel yet improved fuel efficiency has reduced the amount of money going into the fund. Without a legislative fix, DOT estimates the fund will be insolvent as early as late July.

While the Senate subcommittee’s staff did not make public the text of the legislation, it offered a summary that outlined $834 million for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, $104 million for the National Transportation Safety Board and $11.1 billion for transit programs.

The full Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to debate the spending measure June 5. Several senators could address concerns regarding freight provisions and proposals related to the trucking industry at that time.