ASHE News and Legislative Alerts

ASHE National is encouraging it's membership to show their support for the Reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) for six years. The 'TEA-3' website (tea3.org) and the 'American Road and Transportation Builder Association' website (artba.org) are valuable sources for recipient names, addresses, and up-to-date legislative action reports. These sites contain a comprehensive breakdown of the principal authorizing committees of the 2003 Surface Transportation Bills. A sample legislative support letter has been attached.

Please let our legislators know how important the highway funding reauthorization is to our industry and our economy!

Letter requesting Congress reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) for six years.

Federal Funding:

This is the US Administration's recommendations. It is subject to revision by Congress:

Highways and Transit Flat in FY '05 Budget; Reauthorization Funding Upped Posted on 2/6/2004 4:51:43 PM President Bush's $2.4 trillion budget request calls for $58.7 billion for transportation in Fiscal Year 2005 and increases the administration's reauthorization proposal for surface transportation programs over the next six years by $9 billion, to $256 billion.

The transportation funding request comes in at $4.4 billion more than last year's budget proposal. It aims $14.4 billion at safety programs, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Highways and transit funding, essentially continue at the enacted FY 2004 levels. The Federal Highway Administration budget request is $33.6 billion, and the Federal Transit Administration request is $7.2 billion. Even though the Bush Administration upped its transportation reauthorization proposal by $9 billion by drawing down the Highway Trust Fund, the highway obligation ceiling would be frozen at $33.6 billion annually through 2009. The level proposed simply represents the FY 2004 enacted level and the subsequent years are flat. Factoring for inflation, the number actually represents an 11 percent decrease from the FY 2004 level. Transit funding would have to make do for the next six years at a level of $7.266 billion, only $90 million more than provided in FY 2003. The administration proposes to eliminate funds for the Appalachian Regional Highway Commission's highway program, which totaled $124 million in FY 2004. NHTSA is targeted to receive $689 million in FY 2005 and FMCSA would get $455 million.

The budget proposal would reduce funds for exempt programs, from $943 million to $835 million in FY 2005, nearly $90 million less than FY 2004, representing the close-out of demonstration projects. The budget also proposes the rescission of some $300 million in previously apportioned contract authority to continue to pass the Byrd solvency test. Together, FY 2005 highway spending is proposed at $34.178 billion. The DOT budget again proposes the reorganization of the Federal Transit Administration's grant programs, a plan rejected by the Congress last year. The FY 2005 budget combines formula grants, planning, research and rail modernization expenses into one account sustained by the Highway Trust Fund to the tune of $5.62 billion. Another account -- for Major Capital Investment Grants that covers new starts --receives $1.5 billion from the general fund. Of that $1.5 billion, $1.2 billion goes to the fixed-rail modernization and $148 million is designated for the administration's 'New Freedom' initiative for disabled people, according to the newsletter Transportation Weekly.

For FY 2005, the Federal Aviation Administration ' the only transportation agency to be reauthorized last year ' would get $14 billion of the $60 billion it was authorized over the next four years. Of that $14 billion, $3.5 billion is slated for grants for airport capacity, safety and environmental improvements. FAA operations in the amount of $6 billion would come from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, up from $4.7 billion last year.

The administration proposes to fund the Essential Air Service program at $50 million, with $36 million from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. The rest of the funding would come from overflight fee collections. Communities receiving EAS grants will be asked to pay for part of their subsidy in the proposed budget. Amtrak would be budgeted for $900 million, with a potential increase to $1.4 billion in FY 2006 if the Administration's Passenger Rail Investment Reform Act is enacted. Overall, the Federal Railroad Administration would receive $188 billion in FY 2005, which includes a 73 percent cut in high-speed rail development to a level $10 million. The administration again proposes to stop funding for the rehabilitation of Alaska's railroads. At the budget briefing on Monday, Mineta also outlined an initiative to increase freight movement by using the nation's waterways by engaging the Maritime Administration and the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. in this effort. MARAD is set to receive an increase of $10 million in FY 2005, to $234 million. The Seaway's budget increases by $2 million to $16 million in FY 2005.

U.S. DOT is looking into restructuring the Research and Special Programs Administration. Nonetheless, RSPA is targeted to receive $11 million more in FY 2005 with a budget request of $137 million.