AASHTO Journal, 15 March 2013
Following last week’s actions by the House, the Senate this week introduced its own version of a Continuing Resolution, outlining funding levels for the rest of fiscal year 2013 (which will end on Sept. 30 of this year). Unlike the House version, however, the Senate proposal honors transportation funding levels passed into law by the current surface transportation bill, MAP-21. The current part-year CR expires March 27.
MAP-21 allows for obligations of just less than $39.7 billion in FY 2013 for highways and about $8.48 billion for transit. The Senate CR follows those numbers exactly, while the House CR cut highway funding to $39.1 billion (down about $600 million) for highways and to $8.35 billion (a cut of almost $150 million) for transit.
The Senate CR also revises House language so that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s grant program “conforms to the new program authorizations under MAP-21.” Like the House CR, however, the Senate proposal keeps the $85 billion sequester in place.
“We provide an additional amount of money for highway and road safety programs, where people actually work with funds going to states at the local level,” said Senate Committee on Appropriations Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in a floor statement delivered Tuesday. “We can generate jobs in construction. We can improve public safety by working on smart highways. And—literally—we can help get America rolling again.”
The Senate, which adjourned for the weekend Thursday evening, is currently debating various amendments to the proposal, all of which are located here. Mikulski said she hoped to have a CR on President Obama’s desk by next Friday.
A summary of the Senate’s CR is available online here. Full text of the measure is available here.