House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Advances Budget Reconciliation Proposal
Imposes Electric Vehicle Fee and Rescinds Equity Funds

House T&I Budget Reconciliation Proposal

On April 30, 2025, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (House T&I Committee), on a party-line vote, adopted its budget reconciliation proposal. The bill imposes an electric vehicle fee, rescinds certain U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) unobligated funds, and provides additional funding for the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control system and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Committee held the markup in accordance with reconciliation instructions from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget Resolution to recommend changes within its jurisdiction to reduce the deficit by $10 billion, on net, over the next 10 years. The House T&I Committee will now send the proposal to the House Committee on the Budget to be combined with contributions from other committees for a larger Budget Reconciliation bill.

The House T&I proposal imposes a new electric vehicle fee and deposits those funds into the Highway Trust Fund. However, unlike all Highway Trust Fund revenues enacted since 1982, the House T&I proposal does not honor the traditional 80-20 split between the Highway Account and the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund.

We urge you to contact your Members of Congress to insist that any new dedicated revenue stream to the Highway Trust Fund must contribute at least 20 percent to the Mass Transit Account.

Imposes Electric Vehicle Fee

The T&I Budget Reconciliation proposal incentivizes States to collect an annual fee of $250 on electric vehicles and $100 on hybrid vehicles, indexed for inflation. The proposal originally included a $20 fee for all other vehicles, but that fee was eliminated by the manager’s amendment to the bill.

The Federal Highway Administration would collect the fees from States and deposit the funds into the Highway Trust Fund. The revenue potential is expected to be a significant addition to the gas tax and other existing revenue sources, but not enough to address the current Highway Trust Fund shortfall.

However, the House T&I proposal does not honor the traditional 80-20 split between the Highway Account and the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund, consistent with all revenue increases since Congress established the Mass Transit Account in 1982. Over the past 43 years, all revenue increases have reflected this split, including:

  • the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-424);
  • the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-508);
  • the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66);
  • the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-34); and
  • the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) (P.L. 105-178).

In fact, in TEA 21, Congress corrected a one one-hundredth of a penny error from the Taxpayer Relief Act (TRA) to ensure that the TRA’s revenue increase reflected the appropriate 80-20 split. TEA 21 increased the transit share of Trust Fund revenues from 2.85 cents to 2.86 cents per gallon of gasoline.

T&I Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) offered an amendment to clarify that 20 percent of the electric vehicle fee proceeds would be deposited in the Mass Transit Account, but it was defeated by voice vote.

In addition, APTA is concerned that the new EV fee may apply to public transit agencies and urged the T&I Committee to exempt public transit vehicles, similar to the bill’s treatment of commercial motor vehicles.

We urge you to contact your Members of Congress to insist that any new dedicated revenue stream to the Highway Trust Fund must contribute at least 20 percent to the Mass Transit Account.

Rescinds All DOT Equity, Low-Carbon, and Environmental Review Funds

The House T&I Committee proposal also rescinds all unobligated funds from certain DOT programs established in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including:

  • the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants (61 projects totaling $2.4 billion);
  • the Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants (39 projects totaling $1.8 billion); and
  • the Environmental Review Implementation Funds ($100 million).

APTA Submits Initial Surface Transportation Authorization Recommendations
to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

This week, APTA submitted its initial Surface Transportation Authorization Recommendations to the House T&I Committee. APTA’s Recommendations include legislative proposals approved by the APTA Legislative Committee on December 5, 2024, and April 6, 2025. The T&I Committee accepted stakeholder legislative recommendations through April 30. In addition to outlining broad public transit and passenger rail investment objectives, APTA’s Recommendations include legislative proposals regarding innovative finance and tax; programmatic structure and streamlining; project delivery; and regulatory reform.

The Legislative Committee continues to solicit recommendations from APTA members to help the Committee identify, develop, and prioritize proposals for the next Surface Transportation Authorization bill. If you have any recommendations that you would like to forward to the Legislative Steering Committee and Legislative Committee for consideration, please fill out APTA’s Surface Transportation Authorization Form. APTA’s Legislative Committee will consider additional Recommendations, including specific investment recommendations, at both the Legislative Conference and Rail Conference in May and June, respectively.

APTA expects the T&I Committee to begin accepting legislative recommendations from Members of Congress in the near future. APTA hopes to also advance its Recommendations, including newly adopted recommendations, through that process. In addition, the Senate authorizing committees are in the early stages of the authorization process and are likely to accept stakeholder proposals at least through the summer or fall of 2025.

Register for APTA Advocacy Afternoon at the Legislative Conference

Please join APTA on Tuesday, May 20, for an Advocacy Afternoon to advocate for full funding for public transit and passenger rail. Your voice is instrumental as Congress lays the groundwork for the next Surface Transportation Authorization Act, considers the FY 2026 THUD Appropriations bill, and debates other critical legislation.

APTA will coordinate in-person visits with your Members of Congress and their staff on Tuesday, May 20, between 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET. To match you with your Members of Congress, please complete this form in its entirety to ensure the proper in-person meetings are scheduled on your behalf.

A separate advocacy training and logistics webinar will be provided to Advocacy Afternoon registrants prior to May 20.

If you have any questions, please email Jillian Kinder, Legislative Representative, Government Affairs and Advocacy.

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