This week, by a vote of 216-210, the House approved the FY 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill. The bill includes funding for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other related agencies. The legislation assumes that Congress will take action to provide the necessary revenue for the Highway Trust Fund to support the highway and transit funding levels, noted below.
Total transportation spending in the bill is $55.3 billion – an increase of $1.5 billion above fiscal year 2015 and $9.7 billion below the president’s budget request. The bill provides $40.25 billion from the Highway Trust Fund for the Federal-aid Highway Program and $10.7 billion for the Federal Transit Administration, including $8.6 billion for formula grants and $1.9 billion for Capital Investments Grants, known as “New Starts.” These transit capital grants were decreased 9.4 percent from the FY 2015 level of $2.12 billion. Additionally, the legislation funds TIGER grants at $100 million – $400 million below fiscal year 2015 and $1.15 billion below the president’s request.
An AGC-supported amendment was also included which requires the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to study the impact of its truck driver Hours-of-Service 34-hour reset provision (requiring a qualifying restart to include two consecutive off-duty periods between 1:00 A.M. and 5:00 A.M. and limiting its use to once per week). The bill requires that the study, “demonstrate statistically significant improvement in all outcomes related to safety, operator fatigue, and driver health and longevity” before reinstating the 34-hour restart limitations. Since the rulemaking, limited data has shown that the new restrictions on the use of the 34-hour restart provision resulted in increased daytime truck traffic.
During debate, an AGC-opposed amendment was approved that blocks the transit administration from prohibiting local hire requirements on FTA-funded projects. Last year, the Department of Transportation proposed a regulation that would allow local hire requirements on federally-assisted highway projects. AGC submitted comments earlier this year to the department opposing the regulation.
The Senate may take up its version of the legislation next week.
For more information, please contact Brian Deery at deeryb@agc.org or (703) 837-5319. Return to Top