Administration Releases FY 2006 Budget
February 8, 2005
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The Bush Administration released its Fiscal Year 2006 Budget
proposal, which recommends a funding level of $7.781 billion for the federal
transit program, an increase of $134 million or 1.8 percent over the FY 2005
final appropriation. Of this amount, $6.825 billion, or 87.7 percent, would
come from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund. The federal
highway program would receive an increase in funding of $966 million over
FY 2005, with a funding level of $34.7 billion.
The overall budget cuts total non-defense, non-homeland
security discretionary funding by 1 percent. Funding for the U.S. Department
of Transportation would be $57.5 billion, a decrease of 1 percent. As part
of a broader proposal to restructure Amtrak, the proposal would eliminate
all federal subsidies for Amtrak and provide $360 million for the Surface
Transportation Board to maintain existing commuter rail services and freight
operations in the northeast corridor.
TEA 21 Reauthorization & the Budget
The Administration's budget request proposes a six-year funding
level for TEA 21 reauthorization of $283.9 billion, an increase of $27.9 billion
over the Administration's proposal last year. The DOT budget release states
that this "figure reflects the emerging consensus in Congress that was
developed in a conference committee in 2004." The budget proposal gives
a preview of the Administration's new SAFETEA reauthorization proposal, but
it does not provide much detail. According to a statement by Federal Highway
Administrator Mary Peters, the full reauthorization proposal will be delivered
to Congress in the "very near future."
The budget proposal begins to set the stage for this year's
debate over TEA 21 reauthorization. It proposes to fund the transit program
at $49.1 billion over six years (FY 2004 - 2009), but like previous Administration
reauthorization proposals, it does not propose to guarantee the portion of
the Federal Transit Administration program that is funded with general funds.
Similarly, it again proposes to eliminate the Bus and Bus Facilities program
and move that funding into the formula and other programs. The Administration
also proposes to move the Fixed Guideway Modernization program from the Capital
Investment program to the Formula program; and to add to the Formula program
some stand-alone programs, including JARC, Research, and Planning. Many of
these proposals were considered and rejected or modified by Congress last
year.
Under the budget proposal, funding for several programs would be increased,
mostly with the money saved by eliminating the Bus and Bus Facilities program
and other proposed reauthorization changes. Fixed-Guideway Modernization funding
would be increased by $122 million, the Rural Formula program would receive
$141.7 million more, and JARC would receive $39.9 million in additional funding.
New Starts would receive $93 million in additional funding.
Below is a preliminary analysis of the Administration's FY
2006 Budget proposal. Please note that budget assumes that the transit program
structure would change from FY 2005 to FY 2006 as a result of proposals to
change current authorizing law. To become effective, such changes would have
to be made by Congress in a new reauthorization bill.
Summary of Administration's FY 2006 Proposed Budget Funding
Levels for public transportation
|
Program
|
FY 2005 Appropriation
|
FY 2006 Administration Budget Request
|
Change FY 2005 to FY 2006
|
Change FY 2005 to FY 2006
|
|
|
(Millions)
|
(Millions)
|
(Millions)
|
(Percent)
|
|
Total All Programs
|
7,646.34
|
7,780.80
|
134.46
|
1.8%
|
|
Formula Total
|
3,999.92
|
6,134.80
|
2,134.88
|
53.4%
|
|
UZA Formula
|
3,593.20
|
3,697.30
|
104.10
|
2.9%
|
|
Rural Formula
|
250.89
|
392.60
|
141.71
|
56.5%
|
|
Elderly and Disabled
|
94.53
|
95.10
|
0.57
|
0.6%
|
|
Clean Fuels
|
49.60
|
---
|
-49.60
|
-100.0%
|
|
Alaska Railroad
|
4.81
|
4.80
|
-0.01
|
-0.2%
|
|
Rural Transportation Accessibility
|
6.89
|
7.00
|
0.11
|
1.5%
|
|
Fixed-Guideway Modernization
|
In Capital
|
1,326.80
|
122.12
|
10.1%
|
|
National Transit Database
|
In Research
|
3.90
|
---
|
---
|
|
Altoona Bus Testing Facility
|
In Research
|
3.50
|
---
|
---
|
|
Job Access and Rev. Commute
|
In JARC
|
163.90
|
39.90
|
32.2%
|
|
New Freedom Initiative
|
---
|
158.40
|
---
|
---
|
|
Research
|
In Research
|
53.80
|
---
|
---
|
|
Planning
|
In Planning
|
122.70
|
---
|
---
|
|
National Parks Legacy
|
---
|
30.00
|
---
|
---
|
|
Intermodal Passenger Facilities
|
---
|
75.00
|
---
|
---
|
|
Capital Investment
|
3,312.11
|
1,562.50
|
-1,749.61
|
-52.8%
|
|
New Starts
|
1,437.83
|
1,531.25
|
93.42
|
6.5%
|
|
Fixed-Guideway Modernization
|
1,204.68
|
In Formula
|
---
|
---
|
|
Bus and Bus Facilities
|
669.60
|
---
|
-669.60
|
-100.0%
|
|
Planning
|
In Planning
|
31.25
|
---
|
---
|
|
Planning
|
72.42
|
In Formula
|
---
|
---
|
|
Research
|
54.56
|
In Formula
|
---
|
---
|
|
Job Access and Reverse Commute
|
124.00
|
In Formula
|
---
|
---
|
|
University Centers
|
5.95
|
In Formula
|
---
|
---
|
|
FTA Operations
|
77.38
|
83.50
|
6.12
|
7.9%
|
For more information on transit funding in the Administration’s FY 2006 budget
submission, please contact Rob Healy of APTA’s Government Affairs Department
at (202) 496-4811 or email rhealy@apta.com
DHS Budget and Transit Security
For the first time ever, President Bush's proposed FY 2006
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget establishes a security infrastructure
program under which public transportation is eligible for funding. This
new program known as the Targeted Infrastructure Protection program would
provide $600 million in federal grants for the protection of critical infrastructures
including: public transportation, seaports, railways, and energy facilities.
However, specific funding for transit security under this new program would
be left to the discretion of the Secretary of DHS. No specific line item for
transit security was provided in the budget. The amount available in
this new program is far below the identified security needs for these
critical infrastructures. For public transportation alone, APTA has
identified in excess of $6 billion in security needs.
Based on provisions in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004 which passed last year, the Administration has proposed
to greatly reduce formula-based grants and instead give discretion to DHS
to target funds based on need. In addition to the Targeted Infrastructure
Protection program, there are two programs for which transit is eligible,
also at the discretion of the DHS Secretary. The Administration has proposed
$1 billion for the Urban Area Security Initiative, which would provide discretionary
grants to urban areas and regions; and $1 billion for discretionary grants
(formerly the formula program) to States and territories that would be awarded
to meet national preparedness goals and priorities identified in State homeland
security plans.
For more information on transit security funding in the Administration’s
FY 2006 budget submission, please contact Tom Yedinak of APTA’s Government
Affairs Department at (202) 496-4865 or email tyedinak@apta.com
House Committee to Introduce TEA 21 reauthorization Bill
House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee
Chairman Don Young is expected to introduce a bill to reauthorize TEA 21 on
Wednesday, February 9. The bill will be named the Transportation Equity Act
– A Legacy for Users (TEA LU), the same name as the House’s reauthorization
proposal from 2004. The bill is expected to authorize $283.9 billion in guaranteed
funding for surface transportation over six years, including FY 2004 and FY
2005. The overall funding level is similar to the level agreed upon by Republican
conferees during last year’s conference, and matches the Administration’s
funding level in the FY 2006 budget proposal (see above). The bill is expected
to contain many of the same statutory language as last year’s version, as
Chairman Young stated, "Basicly, it’s the same bill as last year, just with
different numbers."
As T&I Committee staffer Joyce Rose stated at a meeting
of the Washington Area Transit Industry Representatives (WATIR) at APTA on
February 4, the transit provisions of this bill will be very similar to last
year’s bill, with no major changes expected.
While transit provisions of the bill are not expected to
be contentious, the bill is expected to contain some proposals that will require
negotiations with the Senate and the Administration. The bill will reportedly
provide a minimum 92 percent rate of return on the federal highway program,
while many in Congress still hope to achieve a level of 95 percent. Additionally,
the bill contains a "re-opener" provision that would allow Congress to revisit
the issue at a later date in order to provide more funding. Last year, the
Administration strongly opposed such a provision and threatened to veto any
bill that contained it.
For more information on TEA 21 reauthorization, please contact
Josh Fudge of APTA’s Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4810 or email
jfudge@apta.com
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