LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

FY 2008 Federal Appropriations Update

January 2008

On December 26, the President signed HR 2764, an omnibus appropriations bill for FY 2007-08 that provides annual funding for the Department of Transportation and other programs, including additional spending authority for the Department of Defense. Below is a brief summary of transportation and infrastructure funding included in the final bill:

• Highway Infrastructure: $40.2 billion in mandatory budget authority, $1.1 billion above 2007 and $631 million above the President’s request, providing the full amounts authorized in SAFETEA.
• Federal Transit Administration (FTA): $9.5 billion, including $1.6 billion for New and Small Starts, $131 million below the funding level authorized in SAFETEA.
• Highway Safety: $599.3 million, $11.5 million above 2007, to encourage safety belt use, prevent drinking and driving, improve child safety, and other initiatives.

The funding amounts provided to specific federal programs are included in Attachment A (Excel).

Transit Program Details

The final bill reduced funding for the Bus and Bus Facilities Program by $45 million compared to last year. The legislation also includes a provision, similar to language that was in the Conference Report, limiting the FTA from spending more than 10 percent of unallocated Bus and Bus Facilities Program funds on any Department of Transportation (DOT) congestion reduction initiative, such as the Urban Partnership Program.  The language was amended to extend the limitation to any new congestion related programs created by DOT.  The bill also includes language from the Conference Report that prevents the FTA from implementing the final rule on the New Starts/Small Starts Program, which contained various provisions, many of which were not popular among transit operators.

Earmarks

Unlike the FY 2007 budget that was enacted by continuing resolution and contained no earmarks, the FY 2008 bill does contain many earmarks. For the Bay Area, the bill contains 15 highway project earmarks for a total of $12.4 million dollars and 15 transit projects totaling $24.3 million, including $19.5 million in New and Small Starts funding.  A complete listing of the Bay Area earmarks contained in the final bill can be found in Attachment B (Excel). Note that the final bill imposes a 2 percent “across the board” cut on earmarks.

Transit Security Funding Boosted, Though Falls Short of Authorized Amount

Within the Homeland Security title of the Omnibus legislation, $400 million is provided for public transportation and rail security assistance. This was the same funding level as approved by both the House and the Senate earlier this summer. This represents a $125 million increase over last year’s funding level for transit and rail security. Beginning in FY 2009, legislation passed in 2007 (HR 1) authorizes a $750 million annual funding level for transit and rail security through FY 2012, but there is no guarantee that Congress will appropriate at this level.