AASHTO Journal, 22 March 2013
The House of Representatives approved Thursday a fiscal year 2014 budget by a vote of 221-207.
The budget, which was originally introduced last week, is expected to reduce the federal deficit by $4.6 trillion over next 10 years. Though the bill does not include specific funding levels, the budget does highlight transportation as an area that could be cut.
“The mechanisms of federal highway and transit spending have become distorted, leading to imprudent, irresponsible, and often downright wasteful spending,” according to a summary of the budget. The summary said that “high-speed and other intercity rail projects should be pursued only if they can be established as self-supporting commercial services… The budget eliminates these projects.”
The Senate released its own FY 2014 budget last week, which includes a $100 billion “targeted jobs and infrastructure package” to increase employment and tackle infrastructure issues. About $70 billion of that would go specifically to fix deteriorating transportation infrastructure ($50 billion for general transportation infrastructure, $10 billion for fixing the nation’s major dams, and $10 billion for the creation of an infrastructure bank). The Administration expressed its support for the Senate plan last week (see related AASHTO Journal story here).
Regarding the passage of an FY 2014 budget, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials signed on to a letter sent by the National Association of Counties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that urges the Senate to clarify in its Senate Budget Resolution that it does not suggest the possibility of a tax cap placed on tax expenditures, which would include the exemption for interest earned on municipal bonds. Those tax-exempt municipal bonds are the main method used by states and local governments to finance public capital growth and public infrastructure projects. The letter sent by NACo, AASHTO, and other organizations is available here.
With the CR passed in both houses and on the way to the President for his signature, the Senate is expected take final action on its own budget, following votes on dozens of amendments. Information on the Senate FY 2014 budget plan is available here.