DOT Payments Likely to be Delayed, Administration to Send Hill Reauthorization Plan

Committees in the Senate and the House heard from the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and other DOT officials about their FY 2015 budget submission, MAP-21 reauthorization, and how they intend to administer highway and transit programs considering the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Acting Department of Transportation (DOT) Undersecretary for Policy Peter Rogoff warned the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that, in order to maintain a HTF balance of $4 billion for the highway account and $1 billion for the transit account as required by law, DOT will have to delay payments to state highway and transit programs at some point this summer.  The highway account is expected to dip below $4 billion as soon as July and the transit account is projected to fall below $1 billion in August.   At the hearing, Rogoff acknowledged the looming threat of insolvency could lead states to begin delaying construction projects this spring.  In order to prevent the possible slowdown in reimbursements from DOT this summer, Congress and the administration must provide the HTF at least $4 billion in order for obligation to be met through Sept. 30, 2014. At a separate hearing, Secretary Foxx discussed President Obama's 2015 budget request for DOT which calls for $48.56 billion for the Federal Highway Administration (a 19 percent increase over FY 2014), $17.65 billion for the Federal Transit Administration (a 63 percent increase); about $5 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration (a 210 percent increase), and $15.4 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (a 2 percent decrease from the current year). Secretary Foxx also reiterated that the administration will send a MAP-21 reauthorization proposal to Congress in April. The Administration’s reauthorization proposal would call for supplementing existing Highway Trust Fund revenue with $150 billion from revenue generated from "pro-growth corporate tax reform." The proposal also would follow MAP-21 programmatic structures for the most part, while also creating several new programs under FHWA, including: a Critical Immediate Investments Program (part of the President's "Fix it First" initiative, focusing on improving existing transportation assets and cutting down on structurally deficient bridges), a Freight Program (which aims to cut down on freight bottlenecks and improve efficiency in moving goods), and a Fixing and Accelerating Surface Transportation program (a discretionary program that would reward innovative solutions to transportation challenges). The proposal dedicates $5.1 billion over four years to transit "Fix it First" projects, creates a new Bus Rapid Transit discretionary grant program and dedicates $7 billion over four years for new intercity passenger rail services and upgrades to existing corridors. Other elements of the plan include an increase in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant funding, from the current $600 million in FY 2014 to $1.25 billion in FY 2015.