House and Senate conferees came to a formal agreement on the FY 2010 Congressional budget resolution after negotiating a number of contentious provisions. The agreement adopted a more favorable House projection on an available budgetary baseline of $324 billion over six years for the highway and transit programs.
An important first step in the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization effort, the budget resolution sets the parameters governing spending decisions by Congress this year. It has particular impact on the highway and transit programs because SAFETEA-LU expires on Sept. 30 and the amount of funding that can be included in reauthorization legislation is impacted by the budget resolution.
Other provisions in the resolution are favorable to transportation as well, including a reserve fund provision allowing for additional highway and transit funding above the amount set in the resolution if new legislation is enacted that provides additional revenue. A proposal from the Obama administration to use the resolution to change the budget treatment of the Highway Trust Fund was rejected.
Final action on the compromise resolution is expected in both the House and Senate by the end of the week.
In the meantime, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) said that the drafting of a new reauthorization bill is moving along and that he fully intends to have the bill reported out of the T&I Committee by the end of May. House floor time has been set aside to consider the bill during the first week of June. Oberstar said he does not support temporary funding extensions past the Sept. 30 deadline.
A report released by the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials indicated that by 2015 governments at all levels will need to more than double their spending on highways and bridges to keep up with increased traffic, freight congestion, the demands of aging highways and bridges and the growth of the nation’s population.
