House Approves Record Transit Funding for FY 2007 -- $8.979 Billion
June 30, 2006
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The House of Representatives approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 5576) on June 14 by a vote of 406-22. The bill funds Federal Transit Administration (FTA) programs at a record-high $8.979 billion level, approximately $4 million above the amount authorized and guaranteed by SAFETEA-LU (P.L. 109-59) for FY 2007. This is a 5.6 percent increase over the final amount appropriated for FY 2006.
| Program | FY 2006 Final Appropriation (a) (Millions) | FY 2007 House-Passed Bill (Millions) | Change from FY 2006 Appropriation to FY 2007 House-Passed Bill |
| Dollars (Millions) | Percent |
| Total All Programs | 8,504.5 | 8,978.8 | 474.3 | 5.6% |
| Formula Programs and Bus Capital Total | 6,862.8 | 7,262.8 | 399.9 | 5.8% |
| | § 5307 Urbanized Area
| 3,432.0 | 3,606.2
| 174.2
| 5.1%
|
| | § 5340 Growing States and High Density States
| 384.1
| 404.0
| 19.9
| 5.2%
|
| | § 5311 Rural Area
| 384.1
| 404.0
| 19.9
| 5.2%
|
| | § 5310 Elderly and Disabled
| 110.9
| 117.0
| 6.1
| 5.5%
|
| | § 5317 New Freedom | 77.2
| 81.0
| 3.8 | 4.9%
|
| |
§ 5308 Clean Fuels Formula
| 42.6
| 45.0
|
2.4
| 5.7%
|
| | § 3038 Over-the Road Bus
| 7.4
| 7.6
| 0.2
| 2.4%
|
| | § 5309(m)(2)(B) Fixed-Guideway Modernization (b)
| 1,329.8
| 1,448.0
| 118.2
| 8.9%
|
| | § 5309(m)(2)(C) Bus and Bus Facilities | 814.0
| 855.5
| 41.5
| 5.1%
|
| |
§ 5305 Planning
| 94.1
| 99.0
| 5.0 | 5.3%
|
| | § 5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute
| 136.6
| 144.0
|
7.4
| 5.4%
|
| | § 5320 Alternative Transportation in Parks
| 21.8
| 23.0
| 1.2
| 5.6%
|
| | § 5335 National Transit Database
| 3.5
| 3.5
| 0.0
| 1.0%
|
| | § 5339 Alternatives Analysis |
24.8 | 25.0 | 0.3 | 1.0% |
| Capital Investment Programs Total
| 1,488.0 | 1,566.0 | 78.0 | 5.2% |
| | § 5309(m)(2)(A) New StartsTotal (b) | 1,488.0 | 1,566.0 | 78.0 | 5.2% |
| | New Starts Less Than $75 Million | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | --- |
| | New Starts $75 Million or More (b) | 1,488.0 | 1,566.0 | 78.0 | 5.2% |
| Research Total | 74.4 | 65.0 | (9.4) | -12.7% |
| | § 5313(a) TCRP
| 8.9
| 9.3
| 0.4
| 4.4%
|
| | § 5315 National Transit Inst.
| 4.3
| 4.3
| 0.0
| 1.0%
|
| | § 5314 National Research
| 54.4
| 44.4
| (10.0)
| -18.3%
|
| | § 5506 University Centers
| 6.9 | 7.0 | 0.1 | 1.0%
|
| FTA Operations | 79.2 | 85.0 | 5.8 | 7.3% |
| (a) Includes one percent across-the-board rescission of federal funds |
| (b) Includes in FY 2006 Appropriations the transfer of $47.3 million from Fixed-Guideway Modernization to New Starts |
As reported following the subcommittee markup, the bill provides no funding for the small starts program in FY 2007, directing these funds to the existing new starts program instead. The FTA has not completed its rulemaking for this newly-created program for smaller fixed guideway projects such as street cars, commuter rail, and bus rapid transit lines, and the Administration's FY 2007 budget proposed to set funding for small starts at half of the authorized level in FY 2007, reducing overall funding by $100 million below the authorized level. The FTA, however, released proposed interim guidance on the small starts program June 9, and APTA will press for its full funding in the Senate.
With regard to commuter rail, Northeast Corridor and Amtrak issues, the bill does not impose any new fees on commuter railroads operating in the corridor. The Administration's FY 2007 budget proposal called for commuter railroads to assume a higher portion of capital and maintenance expenses on the Amtrak-owned portion of the Northeast Corridor, and the FY 2006 Transportation Appropriations law (P.L. 109-115) directed the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish new fees on these commuter rail operators. APTA opposed these efforts because commuter railroads already pay a fair share of Northeast Corridor costs as established through carefully negotiated legal, financial and operating agreements involving substantial state investments. While the House bill does not include these fees, the Senate bill could still adopt the Administration's recommendations on these fees.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has tentatively scheduled its subcommittee markup of the FY 2007 Transportation Appropriations bill on July 18 with the full committee markup to follow on July 20. The bill is not expected to reach the Senate floor before Congress adjourns for its August recess, indicating that a transportation appropriations bill may not be completed before FY 2007 begins on October 1. If that occurs, Congress would need to pass a continuing resolution until the FY 2007 Transportation Appropriations law is enacted and would probably continue program funds at FY 2006 levels.
For information on the FY 2007 Transportation Appropriations, please contact Rob Healy of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4811 or email rhealy@apta.com. For more information on Northeast Corridor or Amtrak issues, please contact Art Guzzetti of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4814 or email aguzzetti@apta.com.
House Passes Technical Corrections Bill to SAFETEA-LU
The House of Representative passed a technical corrections bill to SAFETEA-LU (H.R. 5689) on June 28 by voice vote. The bill consists of minor technical corrections to SAFETEA-LU such as adjusting the descriptions of projects in the law and would not change transit funding levels. The only important funding change in the bill is a minor reduction of highway formula funds to pay for research programs in SAFETEA-LU that were earmarked but not fully authorized.
The bill was introduced by the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Reps. Don Young (R-AK), Thomas Petri (R-WI), James Oberstar (D-MN) and Peter Defazio (D-OR), and it was passed under the procedure known as "suspension of the rules" which bypasses committee consideration but requires a two-thirds majority to pass the bill. The Senate has not initiated a similar bill at this time.
For information on the SAFETEA-LU technical corrections bill, please contact Rob Healy of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4811 or email rhealy@apta.com.
Homeland Security Bill Advances in the Senate
The Senate Committee on Appropriations approved the FY 2007 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill (H.R. 5441) on June 29. The bill provides $150 million for transit and rail security funding, the same amount provided in the FY 2005 and FY 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations laws (P.L. 108-334 and P.L. 109-90). Following the July 4th recess, the Senate is expected to begin consideration of the bill on the Senate floor, at which time a bi-partisan group of Senators may offer an amendment to increase transit funding in the bill. Details of a proposed amendment are not yet known. During consideration of the FY 2006 bill on the Senate floor last year, an 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.
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives approved its version of the bill on June 6. During consideration of the bill on the House floor, the House agreed by a vote of 225-197 to an amendment that increased funding for transit and rail security grants by $50 million, raising the total funding in the bill for these programs to $200 million. The original version of the bill reported out of the House Appropriations Committee contained $150 million for transit and rail security grants.
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.
House - Senate Conferees Reduce Funding in Supplemental Appropriations Bill
President Bush signed the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (P.L. 109-234, H.R. 4939) into law on June 16, but the enacted legislation does not contain the $200 million for the emergency response and recovery of public transportation in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina that was included in the Senate-passed bill. House and Senate negotiators who drafted the conference report for the law dropped the transit funding along with funding for numerous other programs under considerable pressure from the White House to hold spending under the bill to $94.5 billion, considerably less than the $108.9 billion in the Senate-passed bill.
While the supplemental appropriations law does not contain new funds for transit recovery, the law does include provisions that waive local share requirements and operating restrictions for federal grants to the affected agencies, giving relief to providers whose local tax base and other resources normally used to cover the local share have been reduced dramatically. Transit providers in the region have also had some access to relief funds through Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs.
For more information, please contact Rob Healy of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4811 or email rhealy@apta.com.
Tax Bill Impact on Transit SILOs/LILOs
The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (PL 109-222; H.R. 4297), which was signed by President Bush on May 17, 2006, includes language that could affect transit agencies that entered into Sale In/Lease Out or Lease In/Lease Out (SILOs or LILOs) agreements. While the application of the new law to transit agency SILOs and LILOs is still somewhat unclear, the law could impose an excise tax on a portion of the proceeds transit systems received under such transactions. The law specifically exempts from its application those "grandfathered" transit transactions that were permitted under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.
APTA has met with staff from congressional tax committees to determine the potential impact of the law on transit agencies, pointing out that the U.S. Department of Transportation not only encouraged transit systems to enter into such transactions but also signed off on each transaction involving federal funds. APTA will meet with Treasury Department staff next.
The same law also includes provisions that require the U.S. Government, and state and local governments, and political subdivisions of those governments, beginning in 2011, to withhold 3 percent of their payments to most vendors and contractors, for goods or services, if such entities spend more than $100 million per year on goods and services. APTA is working with organizations that represent state and local governments on this issue.
For more information on the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, its effects on SILO and LILO agreements and any other related issues, please contact Rob Healy of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4811 or email rhealy@apta.com.
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