Senate Finance Committee Increases Transit
Funding
February 3, 2004
(Download
in Adobe PDF format)
In a Legislative Alert last Friday, we advised you that the
Senate Finance Committee was about to mark up the tax title of the TEA 21
reauthorization bill with a funding increase for highways but no funding for
transit beyond what the Mass Transit Account would provide, some $33 billion.
Thanks to the leadership of the Senate Banking Committee, and the transit
industry's response to our Alert, the Senate Finance Committee marked up the
bill yesterday with a new version that would provide $56.5 billion over the
six-year life of the bill for transit. The federal transit program would receive
$47 billion from the Trust Fund which is "paid for" with offsets.
The remaining amount - $9.5 billion - would come from the General Fund and
would be guaranteed and firewalled. The leadership of the Senate Banking and
Environment and Public Works Committees will offer an amendment to add the
guarantees and firewalls for both highways and transit by amendment during
floor debate on the bill. In more good news, the Senate Finance Committee
also approved an increase in the transit commute benefit from $100 to $120
a month.
Shortly after the Senate Finance Committee action, the Senate
adopted a cloture motion by a vote of 75-11 to take up the highway/transit
bill; this allows debate on the bill to proceed expeditiously. The debate
begins today. With the tax title issue resolved, the Senate Banking Committee
had planned to mark up its bill today, but that action will be delayed with
the discovery last night of a toxic substance in Senator Frist's office in
the Senate Dirksen Office Building and the subsequent closure of all Senate
office buildings.
Our thanks for all your efforts and calls on this critical issue - they worked!
Administration Releases FY 2005 Budget
The Bush Administration today released its Fiscal Year 2005
Budget which contains a proposed funding level of $7.266 billion for the federal
transit program, the same level as FY 2004. The federal highway program would
receive no increase in funding over FY 2004, with a funding level of $33.6
billion. The Administration's budget request proposes a six-year funding level
for TEA 21 reauthorization of $256 billion, an increase of $9 billion over
the Administration's proposal last year, although all of that increase would
go to the highway program.
The overall budget raises total non-defense, non-homeland
security discretionary funding by only .5%. Funding for the U.S. Department
of Transportation would be $58.96 billion, an increase of only $962 million
or .01% over FY 2004. The proposal would fund Amtrak at $900 million and mandate
several structural reforms, and would increase funding to $1.4 billion should
the reforms be enacted. Reacting to strong industry input, for the first time
in several years the budget does not propose the imposition of rail safety
user fees. Motor carrier safety would receive a 25% increase in funding to
$455 million, and highway safety a 131% increase in funding to $689 million.
Proposed funding levels by program are shown in the table below:
|
Program
|
FY 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act
(Millions)
|
FY 2005 Adminstration Budget Request (a)
(Millions)
|
Change from FY 2004 Appropriations to FY 2005 Budget
Request
|
|
Dollars
(Millions)
|
Percent
|
| Total All Programs |
7,265.87
|
7,266.00
|
0.13
|
0.0%
|
| Formula Total |
3,766.65
|
3,910.95
|
144.30
|
3.8%
|
| |
UZA and Rural Formula |
3,664.80
|
3,810.37
|
145.57
|
4.0%
|
| |
Elderly and Disabled |
90.12
|
88.78
|
-1.34
|
-1.5%
|
| |
Clean Fuels |
(c)
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
| |
Alaska Railroad |
4.82
|
4.85
|
0.03
|
0.6%
|
| |
Rural Transportation Accessibility |
6.91
|
6.95
|
0.04
|
0.6%
|
| Capital Investment |
3,188.57
|
2,770.61
|
-417.96
|
-13.1%
|
| |
New Starts (d) |
1,315.98
|
1,531.93
|
215.95
|
16.4%
|
| |
Fixed-Guideway Modernization |
1,199.39
|
1,238.68
|
39.29
|
3.3%
|
| |
Bus and Bus Facilities |
673.20
|
0.00
|
-673.20
|
-100.0%
|
| Planning |
72.57
|
145.82
|
73.25
|
100.9%
|
| Research |
52.69
|
44.62
|
-8.07
|
-15.3%
|
| Job Access and Reverse Commute |
104.38
|
152.99
|
48.61
|
46.6%
|
| University Centers |
5.96
|
6.00
|
0.04
|
0.7%
|
| New Freedom Program |
--
|
147.89
|
147.89
|
---
|
| Bus Testing and Nat. Transit Data. |
--
|
7.19
|
7.19
|
---
|
| FTA Operations |
75.05
|
79.93
|
4.88
|
6.5%
|
(a) The Administration budget proposal for transit conforms
to its reauthorization proposal, which would shift some programs and categories
- for example, no funds are provided for the bus and bus facilities program.
Funding that now goes to the bus and bus facilities program would go to increases
in the new starts and urban formula programs.
See APTA's statement expressing disappointment with the Administration's
proposal on our website, www.apta.com.
|
Action Call!
The good news from the Senate Finance Committee mark up yesterday shows
that your efforts are paying off. But we aren't there yet. Keep up the
good work. Don't forget Transit Takes Action Week is next week - Feb
9-13. Use the Transit Action Center at www.apta.com to support Reauthorization
Now! efforts.
|
For further information, please contact APTA's Rob Healy at 202-496-4811.
Some of these pages may include links to documents in the Adobe PDF format. Please download the Adobe PDF reader if you have not already done so.
