Issue / Federal Funding
Federal, state, and local governments all play a significant role in funding $300 billion in annual transportation spending. The federal government, which funds about a third of the system, supplies important capital funding for highways, transit systems, airports, waterways, and ports while also operating the nation’s air traffic control system. State and local governments augment federal spending with their own to invest in and operate their transportation networks. Federal transportation law dictates how and where transportation is spent. Local funding and finance rely on a broad range of revenue sources, from ballot box measures to tolling and VMT fees.
Biden, McCarthy Closing In On Debt Limit Deal As Time Runs Out
May 26, 2023 | Jeff DavisWhite House and Congressional negotiators are rumored to be close to a deal to increase the debt limit in exchange for spending...
FY24 Appropriations Season Begins With Total Number Still Undecided
May 19, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe House Appropriations Committee started the fiscal 2024 appropriations process this week, marking up bills in subcommittee that will...
Debt Limit Talks Continue, Rescinding COVID Aid Still a Focus
May 12, 2023 | Jeff DavisPresident Biden sat down with Congressional leaders on May 9 to discuss the pending need to increase the debt ceiling, talks which were...
House Passes Debt Ceiling Bill, 217-215
Apr 26, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe House of Representatives has passed the Republican debt ceiling bill (H.R. 2811), which provides a $1.5 trillion increase in the...
Cost of Last Year’s Transportation-HUD Policies Rises by $16 Billion
Apr 26, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe Congressional Budget Office informally notified the House and Senate Appropriations Committees last week of their final estimate of...
McCarthy Introduces Debt Limit Bill Filled With Spending Cuts and Tax Credit Repeals
Apr 21, 2023 | Jeff DavisAfter weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) this week introduced the text of legislation to...
Highway Construction Costs Have Risen 50% in Two Years
Apr 18, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe Federal Highway Administration recently released its updated index of highway construction costs for the July-September 2022...
DOT Announces $296 Million in Bridge Grants
Apr 14, 2023 | Jeff DavisMost of Joe Biden's original proposal for an "American Jobs Plan" got downsized, or jettisoned outright, on the way to becoming the...
Transit’s First “Fiscal Cliff” – The Fight for Operating Subsidies, Part 1
Apr 13, 2023 | Jeff DavisPresident Johnson and Congress established a program for giving financial aid for mass transit capital projects to localities in 1964....
Budget Would Make $13.5 Billion in Unfunded Promises for New Starts
Mar 24, 2023 | Jeff DavisPresident Biden's fiscal 2024 budget request proposes to incur $13.5 billion in unfunded promises for "New Start" mass transit systems,...
California High-Speed Rail Project Wants 1/4 of All IIJA Rail Grant Money
Mar 24, 2023 | Jeff DavisThis month, the California High Speed Rail Authority said that it needs $8 billion in federal grants under the Infrastructure...
Budget Request is $6.3 Billion Below IIJA Authorized Level for FY24
Mar 17, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe most important thing to know about President Biden's fiscal 2024 budget request for transportation is that it does not make any...