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.
FY22 Appropriations Endgame Talks Commence, With February Deadline Looming
Jan 14, 2022 | Jeff DavisThe bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees held a meeting yesterday to begin discussions of how to...
No Progress on FY22 Fiscal Issues, March 1 Looms As New Deadline
Jan 07, 2022 | Jeff DavisThe Second Session of the 117th Congress has begun, and the opening months will be devoted to trying and finish the leftover business...
USDOT Budget for FY 2022 Should Top $140 Billion
Jan 07, 2022 | Jeff DavisWith the influx of extra funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, total funding for the U.S. Department of...
Manchin Says He Won’t Support Reconciliation Bill, Leaving Democrats in Limbo
Dec 20, 2021 | Jeff DavisSenator Joe Manchin (D-WV) made headlines yesterday when he very publicly withdrew his support from the pending budget reconciliation...
Senate Action on Budget Reconciliation Bill Slips to January as Congress Prepares to Adjourn for the Year
Dec 17, 2021 | Jeff DavisThe U.S. Senate will be postponing floor consideration of the multi-trillion-dollar budget reconciliation bill until January 2022 at...
EPW Panel Releases Revised Text of Its Budget Reconciliation Title
Dec 16, 2021 | Jeff DavisThe Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today released its title of the "Build Back Better" budget reconciliation bill today,...
Putting Climate into the Infrastructure Law
Dec 16, 2021 | Jeff DavisIts single biggest investment category, however, is roads and bridges. Jeff Davis of the Eno Center for Transportation broke this...
FHWA Apportions $52.5 Billion in IIJA Highway Contract Authority to State DOTs
Dec 16, 2021 | Jeff DavisYesterday, the Federal Highway Administration formally gave state DOTs $52.5 billion in highway contract authority as the first annual...
Budget Reconciliation Bill Still Stuck in “Byrd Bath” Process
Dec 10, 2021 | Jeff DavisSenate staffers hope to begin the "Byrd bath" process for the budget reconciliation bill next week – a quasi-judicial proceeding...
Appropriations Stopgap Extended to Feb. 18, Delaying Some Infrastructure Funding Increases
Dec 03, 2021 | Jeff DavisGood news: the government shutdown that was possibly to have started tonight has been averted, thanks to legislation passed by Congress...
Biden Signs Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Into Law
Nov 19, 2021 | Jeff DavisAfter a festive November 15 ceremony, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure bill (the Infrastructure Investment and...
The States Benefiting the Most From the Infrastructure Deal
Nov 19, 2021 | Jeff Davis“The formula story is a ridiculous, yet sad one,” says Jeff Davis, a senior fellow at the Eno Center for Transportation, a...