CAGTC Members,
The most recent continuing resolution (CR) funding some federal departments, including the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), expired last night, December 21, at midnight. This was the second CR Congress has passed for fiscal year 2019 (FY19) to keep federal departments subject to seven of the 12 annual appropriations bills open. As a reminder, in late-September, Congress passed a Department of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education minibus package to provide FY19 appropriations for those department.
While Congress reportedly came to an agreement on six of the seven pending appropriations bills, disputes over funding in the Homeland Security bill prevented an overall agreement, or extension, and the Federal government has shut down. Currently, there is no clear path to resolution – instead there are a few different options:
- Congress could come to an agreement about Homeland Security funding and pass an omnibus package containing all seven remaining appropriations bills;
- Congress could pass an omnibus containing the six agreed upon bills and then pass a year-long CR for Homeland Security to fund that department at FY18 levels;
- Congress could pass a year-long CR for all seven bills; or
- Congress could pass a short-term CR for all seven bills and push the negotiations to the 116thCongress in 2019 (this almost happened this week, with a Senate bill proposing a clean CR into February and the House proposing a CR with additional funding for border security into February as well. Neither bill had the votes to pass both chambers).
Should Congress decide to pass a year-long CR for all remaining departments, including USDOT, Highway Trust Fund programs would be set at FY18 levels. This means that states will not see the FAST Act’s promised funding plus ups for the freight formula program. As we saw in the NOFO released earlier this week, the INFRA grant program's FY19 levels are still pending, depending on FY19 appropriations. A clean CR would set levels those laid out in FY18 – meaning the $50 million increase promised by the FAST Act would be non-existent. According to Eno Center for Transportation Analysis, a year-long CR would “cut almost $1.3 billion from the FAST-promised totals.” In terms of discretionary grant programs, Eno reports that BUILD (formerly TIGER) and CRISI would be better off under a year-long CR than they would be under a full FY19 THUD appropriations package. This is because the levels laid out in the FY18 THUD appropriations package were higher than any that have been proposed for FY19 so far.
In terms of how relevant federal agencies will function during this shutdown, here’s what we can expect:
You may recall, the last Federal government shutdown took place briefly in February 2018. At that time, USDOT released updated guidance for “Operations During a Lapse in Annual Appropriations Plans by Operating Administration.” Any lapse in appropriations will lead to around 20,000 furloughed staff. Positions essential for life and safety, funded through means other than annual appropriations, or those that support lawful continuation of other functions are essential and therefore will continue to work during the shutdown. More information on how various USDOT silos will act according to this plan can be found below:
- Because the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are both funded through either multi-year appropriations, indefinite appropriations, or contract authority, they will remain open during the shutdown and “all operations [will] continue as normal.”
- The Federal Railroad Administration will see around half of its workforce furloughed and functions to be suspended include: all activities assigned to the Office of Railroad Policy & Development; FRA’s support to the Build America Bureau regarding the transition of administration for the RRIF program; and administration of grant, financial and technical assistance associated with FRA’s portfolio of competitive grant funds.
- The Maritime Administration will see a little under half its workforce furloughed, with suspended activities including: Environment and Compliance; Intermodal System Development; and Business and Finance development programs.
- The Office of the Secretary will see 389 staff furloughed while 1,466 would continue to work.
- The Office of the Inspector General will see 303 of their 409 total positions furloughed, with the only programs up and running being the hotline and crisis management center and law enforcement activities.
The Federal Maritime Commission and Surface Transportation Board released their own plans in case of a shut down, details below:
- FMC: All employees will be furloughed
- STB: All Board operations will be suspended and “all deadlines requiring the submission of material to the STB during the pendency of the shutdown are tolled.
We will keep you updated as this process continues,
Katie Cross
Manager, Member Communications & Policy
Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors
1625 K Street NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
tradecorridors.org
(202) 828-9100