On June 5 the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Appropriations Subcommittee (THUD) approved its FY2019 appropriations bill including funding for transportation infrastructure development.

The bill provides $71.4 billion in discretionary spending for DOT, Housing & Urban Development, and other agencies.  Funding for the entire bill is $1.1 billion above FY2018 enacted levels. The bill will go to the full Senate Appropriations Committee on June 8.

The subcommittee recommendation targets funding toward improving our nation’s transportation and housing infrastructure, continuing to improve our air traffic control system, and maintaining rental assistance and community development programs.  The measure will be considered by the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

Transportation highlights as outlined by the Subcommittee include:

Overall: $26.6 billion in discretionary appropriations – $698 million below the FY2018 enacted level.  Within this amount, priority is placed on programs to improve the safety, reliability, and efficiency of the transportation system.

BUILD Grants: $1 billion for Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants, previously known as TIGER grants.  This is $500 million less than the current round of BUILD.

Highways – $46 billion from the Highway Trust Fund for the Federal-aid Highways Program, consistent with the FAST Act.  The bill includes $90 million to eliminate hazards at railway-highway grade crossings and $800 million for bridge repairs. 

Aviation – $17.7 billion in total budgetary resources for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which fully funds all air traffic control personnel, including more than 14,000 air traffic controllers, and more than 25,000 engineers, maintenance technicians, safety inspectors, and operational support personnel.

Rail – $2.8 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).  This includes $1.9 billion to Amtrak for the Northeast Corridor and National Network, continuing service for all current routes.  The bill provides $262 million for FRA safety and operations, as well as research and development activities.

Transit – $13.5 billion for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).  Transit formula grants total $9.9 billion.  In addition, $800 million is provided from the general fund for transit infrastructure grants. The bill provides a total of $2.6 billion for Capital Investment Grants (CIG), fully funding all current “Full Funding Grant Agreement” (FFGA) transit projects and new projects meeting CIG criteria.

Safety – $956 million in total budgetary resources for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and $667 million for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  The bill also includes $275 million for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to help address safety concerns related to recent pipeline and crude oil by rail accidents.

The Subcommittee press release is here.