Legislative Activity

House Appropriations Action

Last week the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation/Housing and Urban Development approved its spending bill for FY 2014. The bill provides $44.1 billion ($13.9 billion less than the President requested) and reflects the automatic spending cuts required under sequestration. Although the bill largely protects core funding for surface transportation programs authorized in MAP-21 (P.L. 112-141), the subcommittee proposes no funding for the TIGER grant program in FY 2014 and even calls for the recession of half the  funding the program received for FY 2013. The spending bill will be considered by the full committee on Wednesday, June 26.

Senate Appropriations Action

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation/Housing and Urban Development is scheduled to mark up its FY 2014 spending bill on Tuesday, June 25. Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) released her allocation for the subcommittee, which is nearly $10 billion more than what is proposed in the House bill.

Proposed Legislation for Bridge Repairs

Last week House Democrats on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced legislation that would provide $5.5 billion over two years for repairing structurally deficient bridges across the country. The SAFE Bridges Act (H.R. 2428) would distribute funding to states according to a needs-based formula. The money would be in addition to federal highway funding the states already receive.

This Week’s Hearings:

  • Tuesday, June 25: Transportation-Housing – Senate Appropriations subcommittee markup.
  • Wednesday, June 26: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing titled “How Logistics Facilitate an Efficient Freight Transportation System.”
  • Wednesday, June 26: Transportation-Housing – House Appropriations full committee markup.
  • Thursday, June 27: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials will hold a hearing titled “National Rail Policy: Examining Goals, Objectives and Responsibilities.”