TRANSPORTATION APPROPRIATIONS ALLOCATIONS
CUT
June 18, 2004
(Download
in Adobe PDF format)
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young (R-FL)
released the 302(b) allocations to the 13 appropriations subcommittees for
Fiscal Year 2005 on June 2. The allocations set limits on new spending authority
for each of the 13 appropriations subcommittees in the House, most of which
were flat-lined, although Defense spending increased by almost $26 billion
(7%). The allocations include $25.4 billion in new budget authority for the
Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee in FY 2005,
a cut of $2.68 billion below the FY 2004 appropriated level. In the Senate,
Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens unofficially made allocations
to the 13 Senate Subcommittees that are identical to those in the House.
These reductions in transportation budget authority and related tight outlay
limits could make it difficult to fund transit even at the $7.266 billion
provided in FY 2004 - the level requested by the Administration in its FY
2005 budget request. APTA is urging the House Appropriations Subcommittee
to set FY 2005 transit funding at no less than the $7.75 billion level for
FY 2005 included in the House-passed reauthorization bill (H.R. 3550), which
the House approved by a vote of 357-65 on April 2. APTA is urging the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee to fund the Senate bill at no less than the $8.54
billion for FY 2005 in the Senate-passed TEA-21 reauthorization bill (S. 1072),
which the Senate approved by a vote of 76 to 21 on February 12.
Both Houses are expected to try to move as many appropriations bills as possible
between now and July 23, when Congress breaks early for its August recess
to accommodate the Democratic Presidential Convention.
|
Action Call!
We need your help! Urge your House and Senate congressional delegation
to work with House and Senate appropriators to fund transit at the
highest level possible in the FY 2005 appropriations process. Point
out the level of FY 2005 funding for transit in the House-passed reauthorization
bill (H.R. 3550) - $7.75 billion, and in the Senate-passed reauthorization
bill (S.1072) - $8.54 billion. This difficult appropriations environment makes it more important
than ever that a TEA-21 bill is enacted with guaranteed funding. Urge
your congressional delegation to press the reauthorization Conference
Committee to pass reauthorization with guaranteed funding at the Senate-passed
level of $318 billion with $56.5 billion for transit!
|
For further information, contact Rob Healy in the APTA Government
Affairs Department at (202) 496-4811 or rhealy@apta.com.
TRANSIT SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS INCREASED
Good news on the Homeland Security front - for the first time Congress is
specifying funding for transit security. On June 17, the Senate Committee
on Appropriations approved a bill that would provide $32 billion in discretionary
funding for the Department of Homeland Security's budget for FY 2005. This
represents an increase of $2.8 billion above last year's funding. The legislation
provides $3.75 billion for programs to support state and local first responders,
including $150 million for rail and transit security grants under the Office
of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness. The measure also
funds the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at $5.2 billion, which
includes $15 million for rail security. The bill also provides $23.89 million
for high explosives countermeasures for commuter and passenger rail environments
under the DHS science and technology program. In sum, the bill would provide
nearly $190 million in funds for rail and transit security in FY 2005.
On June 9, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $32 billion Homeland
Security Appropriations bill for FY 2005, H.R. 4567 and House Report 108-541.
The bill is being considered on the House floor today (June 18). The legislation
provides $4.1 billion for programs to support state and local first responders,
including $1 billion for the high-density, high-threat urban areas grant program.
Within the $1 billion total, not less than $100 million is dedicated to rail
security, including intercity rail, and transit security systems. The bill
would fund the Transportation TSA at $5.7 billion, including $11 million for
rail security demonstration projects.
For further information, contact Tom Yedinak in the APTA Government Affairs
Department at (202) 496-4865 or tyedinak@apta.com.
HOUSE APPROVES LEGISLATION THAT WOULD AFFECT LEASING TRANSACTIONS
On June 17, the House passed H.R. 4520, "The American Jobs Creation
Act of 2004", the legislation to repeal foreign tariffs placed on U.S.
exports. The Ways and Means Committee had approved the bill by a 27-9 vote
on June 16 and it passed the House by a vote of 251-178. The bill includes
a provision that, as in the Senate-passed version of this legislation, would
effectively end the use of tax-advantaged leasing transactions as a viable
financing mechanism for tax-exempt entities including transit systems.
The House bill, however, would allow the approximately 15 tax-advantaged
leasing proposals formally submitted to the Federal Transit Administration
(FTA) for review between June 30, 2003 and March 12, 2004 to be considered
for approval until January 1, 2005 under the Treasury rules in effect when
the transactions were submitted to FTA. Press reports indicate that the House
and Senate conference on this bill will be difficult. APTA will work to include
the grandfather provision in the final bill.
For further information, contact Demaune Millard in the APTA Government Affairs
Department at (202) 496-4887 or dmillard@apta.com.
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.
