The U.S. House this week approved a $383.3 billion package of 2020 appropriations bills, including critical funding for public transit and passenger rail infrastructure.
If passed by both the Senate and President Donald Trump, the bill’s effects would last from Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2020. Of the allotted totals are included $86.6 billion for the Department of Transportation budget, empowering that agency with $167 million more than its operating budget this year.
“This year’s transportation and housing funding bill, included in H.R. 3055, will benefit all American communities – urban and rural – and lay the foundation for economic growth and opportunity,” said U.S. Rep. David Price, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies. “It reflects the determination of Democrats to seriously invest in infrastructure and to give affordable, accessible housing the priority it deserves. It makes transportation and housing safer, addresses the pressing needs of our most vulnerable citizens, and mitigates and responds to the impacts of climate change.”
Such transportation funding includes things like $17.7 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and $48.9 billion for the Federal Highway Administration. This also means that administrations like the Federal Railroad Administration ($3 billion), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ($1 billion) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ($677) will also be funded along the way — all three at levels exceeding both their 2019 amounts and the President’s budget request. Maritime efforts, the Federal Transit Administration and Amtrak are just a few of the other focuses of the legislation.
In all, it painted a picture that left the non-profit American Public Transportation Association (APTA) rather comfortable with the state of things. APTA President and CEO Paul Skoutelas thanked the House for its efforts in a statement.
“We are encouraged that the House of Representatives rejected the Woodall amendment that would have impacted the way federal loan funds are defined, threatening critical transportation infrastructure projects and that Representative Scott Perry (R-PA) chose not to offer his amendment that would have cut public transit funding,” Skoutelas said. “APTA, along with coalition partners throughout the infrastructure sphere, have emphatically told lawmakers that now is the time to invest more—not less—in our nation’s public transportation infrastructure to help our communities provide critical public transit services. We encourage the Senate and President Trump to quickly move this legislation forward to ensure continued and uninterrupted support for our public transportation and passenger rail infrastructure.”