AASHTO Journal, 29 June 2012
Members in the House today passed a bill funding transportation activities for fiscal year 2013.
The bill, H.R. 5972 (the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013), passed today by a vote of 261-163.
The measure passed the House Committee on Appropriations last week. The bill then came to the House floor earlier this week, where the House debated several amendments to the bill.
The $103.6 billion House-passed appropriations bill for HUD and DOT programs provides a total of $69.7 billion for DOT programs including a $39.1 billion obligation limitation for highways (the same amount as 2012 and in the Senate-passed bill), $12.6 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (an increase of $91 million from 2012), $2 billion for rail (up $384 million from 2012), and $2 billion for transit ($181 million less than the 2012 amount). Prior to passage, the House agreed to a number amendments including one by Rep. McClintock that prohibits the use of funds for a light rail project in San Francisco; and one by Rep. Denham that prohibits the use of funds for high-speed rail in California.
The totals in the House bill matched closely with spending levels passed by the Senate in their own bill (see related story: bit.ly/AJsenateapprops). One notable difference is the House-passed bill provides no funding for the TIGER grants which the Senate funds at $500 million.
“This bill will help support a vibrant and safe transportation infrastructure, while making the difficult but necessary cuts needed to get our budgets back into balance,” said House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers in a statement. “It prioritizes programs responsibly, creating an environment that fosters job creation and funds important repairs and improvements, and ensuring access to affordable housing options.”
Additional information on H.R. 5972, including the full text of the legislation and all proposed and approved amendments, is available at bit.ly/HR5972transpo.