House Appropriations Committee Advances FY 2027 THUD Appropriations Bill
House Appropriations Committee Advances FY 2027 THUD Appropriations Bill
FY 2027 THUD Appropriations Bill significantly cuts public transit and passenger rail investment
May 21, 2026
Today (May 21), the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee passed H.R.____, the THUD Appropriations Act, 2027, on a party-line vote of 9-7. The bill is scheduled to be considered by the House Committee on Appropriations on June 4, 2026.
As the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) expires on September 30, 2026, there is currently no authorization legislation that applies to Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. The FY 2027 THUD Appropriations legislation freezes Highway Trust Fund contract authority at the FY 2026 levels, without any increase. The bill applies this same approach to public transit, Federal-aid highways, and highway safety programs funded from the Highway Trust Fund. The bill also does not contain any advance appropriations.
The House THUD Appropriations bill significantly cuts public transit and passenger rail funding, compared to the FY 2026 enacted levels. Specifically, the THUD Appropriations bill provides $16.5 billion for public transit in FY 2027, a cut of $4.6 billion (-22 percent) from the FY 2026 enacted level.
In addition, the House THUD Appropriations bill appropriates $3.1 billion for passenger and freight rail in FY 2027 while transferring $5.1 billion from unobligated prior funding in the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail program to other initiatives. The bill results in a net loss for passenger and freight rail funding of $1.9 billion, which is a $17.8 billion cut from the FY 2026 enacted level (-112 percent).
Public Transit
The House THUD Appropriations bill provides $16.5 billion for public transit in FY 2027, a cut of $4.6 billion (-22 percent) from the FY 2026 enacted level and freezes public transit contract authority investments at last year’s levels. In addition, it provides $737 million for Capital Investment Grants (CIG), a cut of $2.6 billion (-78 percent) from the FY 2026 enacted level. Of this amount, the bill includes only $31 million for Small Start projects.
The Committee will designate the specific CIG projects and amounts for each project in its Committee report, and the Administration may not deviate from the listed funding amount by more than 10 percent.
The bill significantly cuts CIG funding even though many public transit agencies are pursuing CIG projects to address the mobility demands of their communities. Currently, communities are requesting $31 billion of CIG funds in FY 2026 and subsequent years to fund construction of 49 projects in 23 States. View APTA’s CIG Project Pipeline Dashboard.
The THUD Appropriations bill provides $875 million to support the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and $10 million for buses and bus facilities competitive grants “for the purposes of assisting with the cost of procurement, installation, or retrofit of bus driver protection barriers for new or existing buses.” The bill also provides $86.7 million for Congressionally Directed Spending on designated public transit projects.
The THUD Appropriations bill includes an important public transit policy provision: section 163 of the bill blocks the Rostenkowski Test, preventing an across-the-board cut of FY 2027 transit formula funds to each public transit agency. However, the bill does not prohibit the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) from impeding or hindering a project from advancing or approving a project seeking a CIG Federal share of more than 40 percent.
Finally, concerning Chinese rolling stock procurement prohibitions, section 164 prohibits funds from being used to award or amend a contract for bus or rail rolling stock with a manufacturer that has met the criteria outlined in § 5323(u), including any entities resulting from a reorganization or restructuring or any successor organizations regardless of whether the reorganized, restructured, or successor entity currently meets those restrictions.
View APTA’s Public Transit Funding Table of H.R. ____, the THUD Appropriations Act, 2027
Passenger Rail
The House THUD Appropriations bill appropriates $3.1 billion for passenger and freight rail in FY 2027 while transferring $5.1 billion from unobligated prior funding to other initiatives. The bill results in a net loss for passenger and freight rail funding of $1.9 billion, which is a $17.8 billion cut from the FY 2026 enacted level (-112 percent).
The THUD Appropriations bill provides $2.1 billion for Amtrak grants ($1.5 billion for the National Network and $650 million for the Northeast Corridor), a cut of $4.7 billion (-69 percent) from the FY 2026 enacted levels.
The bill provides $522.8 million for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grants, a decrease of $614.7 million (-54 percent) from the FY 2026 enacted level. The CRISI grants include $22.8 million for Congressionally Directed Spending for designated CRISI projects. Under the bill, CRISI grants may be used for railroad system planning and project development activities.
The Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program receives no funding under the House THUD Appropriations bill. Unobligated balances from this program are used to fund the Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, Amtrak Northeast Corridor and National Network grants, CIG, and several other grants across DOT. In total, $5.1 billion in unobligated funds are transferred from the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program to other initiatives.
The bill provides $100 million to the Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, a decrease of $500 million (-83 percent) from the FY 2026 enacted levels.
Section 154 of the bill prohibits any funding for the Amtrak Texas high-speed rail project, known as the Texas Central Railway project.
View APTA’s Passenger Rail Funding Table of H.R. ____, the THUD Appropriations Act, 2027
U.S. Department of Transportation
The legislation provides $550 million for Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants for surface transportation projects, including public transportation and multi-modal projects.
The bill provides $100 million to advance President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14252, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful”. It includes $70 million for Union Station redevelopment and $30 million for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to “support transit safety, security, and operational costs associated with major events occurring in the National Capital Region….”
Section 193 prohibits DOT from enforcing a mask mandate in response to the COVID-19 virus in FY 2027.
View the House Committee on Appropriations Summary of H.R. ____, the THUD Appropriations Act, 2027