AASHTO Journal, 8 March 2013
Members of the House passed H.R. 933 Wednesday, a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The measure, passed by a vote of 267-151, did not honor transportation funding levels outlined in the current two-year surface transportation bill, MAP-21.
“We are disappointed with the surface transportation investment levels contained in the proposed House continuing resolution, which fails to meet funding levels from MAP-21 passed by the Congress just nine months ago,” said Bud Wright, AASHTO executive director. “At a time when our economy continues to struggle to regain its footing, any reduction in transportation infrastructure investment only exacerbates that problem. We are also concerned that the proposed bill freezes funding for certain safety programs at a time when highway fatalities may again be on the rise.”
The House CR cuts hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation funding provided by MAP-21 including a Federal-aid highways obligation limitation reduction of almost $600 million, a $125 million reduction in the obligation limitation for transit formula and bus grants, and an almost $60 million reduction in highway safety programs. No money is included for new highway safety programs authorized by MAP-21.
“Some states were able to rearrange their current highway safety funds in order to continue programs for the first six months of this fiscal year,” said Governors Highway Safety Administration Chairman Kendell Poole in a statement. “Unfortunately, if the Congress doesn’t fix what is essentially a technicality, state highway safety funds will be severely impacted and motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries can be expected to increase.”
The full text of the CR passed by the House is available here.