(The following story by Kathryn A. Wolfe appeared on the Congressional Quarterly website on December 14, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Efforts to create a national high-speed rail network would get a big boost under the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) section of the fiscal 2010 omnibus, with conferees agreeing to appropriate $2.5 billion in grants for one of Obama’s signature transportation priorities.
The appropriation would more than double the White House request and splits the difference between the $4 billion contained in the House-passed Transportation-HUD appropriations bill (HR 3288) and the $1.2 billion in the Senate version. The high-speed rail funding comes in addition to $8 billion provided in the economic stimulus law (PL 111-5) to jump-start programs.
The House bill had recommended using $2 billion of the rail money for a national infrastructure bank, which would leverage government borrowing with private investment to build projects of regional importance. But Congress has not enacted legislation authorizing an infrastructure bank. Conferees decided it is too complex to address in a spending bill and should be handled by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee through authorizing legislation.
Overall, the Transportation-HUD portion of the omnibus would appropriate $122.1 billion, $13.4 billion more than enacted in fiscal 2009, excluding emergency funding. It includes $67.9 billion in discretionary budget authority, which is about $1 billion, or 1 percent, less than Obama requested.
Conferees retained a hotly contested Senate provision that would compel Amtrak to allow passengers to travel with handguns in their checked bags. Amtrak would have a year to determine how to implement it. Also surviving in conference is Senate language sought by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that would exempt trucks on Maine and Vermont highways from certain federal highway weight limits for one year.
The conference agreement includes:
• $42 billion for highway programs, $943 million more than requested and $4.2 billion more than enacted for fiscal 2009.
• $15.6 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration, $221 million more than the enacted 2009 level and $358 million less than the president’s request.
• $10.7 billion for transit spending, including $8.3 billion in mass transit grants for light rail and bus lines. This is $602 million more than enacted for fiscal 2009 and $397 million more than requested.
• $1.6 billion for Amtrak, virtually the same as the request.
• $46.1 billion for HUD, about $4.5 billion above fiscal 2009 funding and $577 million more than the president requested. The total includes $8.6 billion for project-based Section 8 housing vouchers, $4.8 billion for the Public Housing Operating Fund, $4.5 billion for the Community Development Fund and $825 million for housing for the elderly.