Congress Passes 9th Short-term Extension of TEA 21;
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Approves Increased FY 2006 Transit Funding
July 20, 2005
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Congress Approves Two-Day Extension of TEA 21
Late on Tuesday night, July 19, the House and Senate passed a simple, two-day extension of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21), which was signed into law by the President today. The bill (H.R. 3332) extends for the ninth time federal transit and highway programs authorized under TEA 21 through July 21. Conferees continue to negotiate on remaining highway and transit issues. Completing the reauthorization bill before the August recess which begins on July 29 remains the goal of conferees.
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Moves FY 2006 Transportation Bill
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary and Housing and Urban Development on July 19 approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. The Subcommittee approved $8.208 billion in funding for the federal transit program in FY 2006, the level included in the TEA 21 reauthorization bill approved by the Banking Committee. As approved by the subcommittee, the bill provides $562 million more than the FY 2005 level, but $273 million less than the amount in the comparable House-passed appropriations bill. The full Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take up the bill on Thursday, July 21, but it is unlikely the bill will reach the Senate floor before September.
Based on a preliminary analysis of the bill and an early draft of the Committee Report (which will not be filed until after the bill is reported from the full Appropriations Committee), the Subcommittee recommended few changes to the transit program. The subcommittee bill would, however, provide substantial increases in both rural formula funding and for the Elderly and Disabled formula program (which likely includes the New Freedoms Initiative), both of which are included in the Senate-passed version of the TEA 21 reauthorization bill. The bill also provides more funding than the House-passed bill for Bus and Bus Facility Capital grants, and less funding than the House bill for New Starts. The report includes language expressing concern about the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) process in making recent changes to its New Starts ratings process.
The bill would provide $1.4 billion for Amtrak, despite threats from the Administration that such a funding level could provoke a presidential veto of the bill. The measure also increases highway funding to $40.1 billion in FY 2006, some $3 billion higher than the comparable House-passed appropriations bill.
A breakdown of the transit funding by program is as follows:
| Program |
FY 2005 Appropriation |
FY 2006 House Passed Appropriation |
FY 2006 Senate Subcommittee Passed Appropriation |
Change from FY 2005 Appropriation to FY 2006 Senate Subcommittee |
| (Millions of Dollars) |
(Millions of Dollars) |
(Millions of Dollars) |
(Millions of Dollars) |
(Percent) |
| Total All Programs |
7,646.34 |
8,482.00 |
8,208.64 |
562.30 |
7.4% |
| Formula Total |
3,999.92 |
4,417.00 |
(a) 4,354.19 |
354.27 |
8.9% |
| UZA Formula |
3,593.20 |
3,973.25 |
3,718.86 |
125.66 |
3.5% |
| Rural Formula |
250.89 |
277.43 |
449.61 |
198.72 |
79.2% |
| Elderly and Disabled |
94.53 |
104.52 |
178.29 |
83.76 |
88.6% |
| Clean Fuels |
49.60 |
50.00 |
0.00 |
-49.60 |
-100.0% |
| Alaska Railroad |
4.81 |
4.85 |
5.44 |
0.63 |
13.1% |
| Rural Transportation Accessibility |
6.89 |
6.95 |
7.43 |
0.54 |
7.8% |
| Capital Investment |
3,312.11 |
3,641.68 |
3,490.97 |
178.86 |
5.4% |
| New Starts |
1,437.83 |
1,561.67 |
1,386.52 |
-51.31 |
-3.6% |
| Fixed-Guideway Modernization |
1,204.68 |
1,386.67 |
1,307.47 |
102.79 |
8.5% |
| Bus and Bus Facilities |
(b) 669.60 |
693.34 |
796.97 |
127.37 |
19.0% |
| Planning and Research |
126.98 |
160.33 |
156.28 |
29.30 |
23.1% |
| Job Access and Reverse Commute |
124.00 |
175.00 |
121.83 |
-2.17 |
-1.8% |
| University Centers |
5.95 |
8.00 |
5.82 |
-0.13 |
-2.2% |
| FTA Operations |
77.38 |
80.00 |
79.54 |
2.16 |
2.8% |
|
(a) Formula total adds to $5.44 million less than sum of Formula Programs. |
|
(b) Excludes Cleans Fuels funds transferred to Bus and Bus Facilities: $49.60 million in FY 2005. |
For more information on the FY 2006 appropriations bill or the TEA 21 reauthorization process, please contact Rob Healy of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4811 or email rhealy@apta.com.
Senate Appropriations Bill Reduces Transit & Rail Security Funding
The Senate on July 14 approved its version of the FY 2006 Homeland Security appropriations bill (H.R. 2360). The bill would provide $100 million in transit and rail security grants, a cut of $50 million from the program level established in FY 2005. The House approved its FY 2006 Homeland Security appropriations bill in May, which maintained the $150 million funding level for transit and rail security grants.
During consideration of the bill on the Senate floor, a bipartisan amendment to increase transit security funding to $1.2 billion, introduced by Senators Shelby (R-AL), Sarbanes (D-MD), Dole (R-NC) and Reed (D-RI) was defeated under a procedural motion. While a 53-46 majority of Senators supported the amendment, a 60-vote majority was required because the increase was not offset by cuts in other parts of the bill, resulting in a Budget Act violation. The Senate also rejected an amendment offered by Subcommittee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) to increase the transit security program from $100 million to $200 million because Senators supporting the Shelby amendment had to defeat the Gregg amendment to get a vote on the Shelby-Sarbanes amendment. APTA has expressed its disappointment regarding the Senate's funding cut and is urging conferees to increase funding for the program above the $150 million FY 2005 level in the House-passed bill. Conference on the bills could occur as early as next week.
For more information on transit security issues, please contact Tom Yedinak of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4865 or email tyedinak@apta.com.
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