CAGTC Members,
Yesterday, the House passed the omnibus by a vote of 309-118 and today the Senate passed it by a vote of 79 to 18. It is anticipated that President Trump will sign the measure into law prior to the deadline. The full text can be found online here.
Meeting the full Highway Trust Fund obligation limits authorized under the FAST Act, the omnibus provides $19.5 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is $650 million more than fiscal year 2016 levels. Passage of this full-year spending bill will mean the FAST Act’s Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program (FASTLANE) FY17 funding will now be available. As a reminder, the FAST Act funded the program at $850 million for FY17, although the actual amount awarded will likely be less to account for the obligation limitation set in the appropriations law (the exact reduction is not yet known and will be made public at a later date by USDOT). As a reminder, FY16 FASTLANE was authorized at $800 million but around was $759 million awarded.
Congress disregarded President Trump’s March 24 request to appropriators to defund the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and instead authorized the FY17 TIGER program at $500 million, the same amount authorized in FY16. This is a compromise between the House’s THUD bill, which authorized the program at $450 million, and the Senate’s THUD bill, which authorized the program at $525 million. The omnibus decreases the maximum TIGER grant award size; while last year an award up to $100 million was permitted, the FY17 bill caps awards at $25 million. Awards can be as small as $5 million. The omnibus also reduces the maximum share that can be awarded in a single state each year from 20 percent to 10 percent.
The omnibus includes $3 million for the National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau, which the Obama Administration referred to as the Build America Bureau. This Bureau is tasked with streamlining credit and grant opportunities for infrastructure development projects while providing assistance and encouraging best practices.
Best,
Katie Cross
Manager, Member Communications & Policy
Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors
1444 Eye St N.W.
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 828-9100
tradecorridors.org