Senate Completes Action on 09 Funding

The Senate has completed action of the fiscal year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill which President Obama is expected to sign before the current continuing resolution expires at Midnight March 11, 2009. The legislation was necessary because the 110th Congress failed to finalize action on most of the appropriations bills before adjourning last year. At that time, a short term extension of funding at FY 2008 levels was approved through March 6, 2009 which was subsequently extended further through March 11. Transportation programs are included in the legislation. The Federal-aid Highway program is fully funded at the SAFETEA-LU authorized level of $40.7 billion. This is slightly less than FY 2008 because there was an additional $1 billion added to last year's funding level for emergency bridge repair. The transit program is increased to $10 billion, the authorized funding level, which is a 7 percent increase over 2008. The Airport Improvement Program remains at $3.515 billion, the same as 2008.