House and Senate pass budget resolution for FY 2008

The House passed its budget resolution for fiscal year 2008 on Thursday, March 29. The Senate passed its version last week. Both the House and Senate budget resolutions allow for full funding at the SAFETEA-LU guaranteed levels of $39.6 billion for highways and $9.7 billion transit.

Both resolutions also include an additional $630 million in Revenue Aligned Budget Authority (RABA) funding, which annually adjusts the level of authorized highway spending depending on actual Highway Trust Fund (HTF) revenue, bringing the highway-funding total to $40.2 billion.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters told the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) at the 88th Annual Convention in San Antonio that the administration opposes providing this additional RABA funding in FY 2008 because of the potential for the HTF balance to go into deficit in FY 2009. The House budget resolution also assumes $3.8 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), nearly a full $1 billion over the President's request.

The House and Senate will now negotiate a final budget resolution in a conference committee. The final resolution is non-binding but shapes congressional spending decisions in the upcoming appropriations process. The President does not sign the resolution.