With the beginning of the new federal fiscal year on October 1, Congress approved a Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Continuing Resolution (PL 109-77) to fund through November 18 those programs under the pending appropriations bills not yet completed by Congress.

The Continuing Resolution continues programs under the FY 2006 Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill (H.R. 3058), along with other unfinished appropriations bills, but only funds Federal Transit Administration (FTA) administrative expenses through November 18 and does not provide any partial FY 2006 funding of the federal transit program. Under continuing resolutions passed last year, the FTA delayed formula apportionments and other grants until the final appropriations bill was passed. Making partial apportionments this year would be even more difficult, because program changes made under SAFETEA-LU have not yet been incorporated into either the House-passed or Senate committee-approved transportation appropriations bills (since both were crafted prior to enactment of SAFETEA-LU). In short, FTA is able to pay employee salaries and administrative expenses through November 18 at FY 2005 levels, but not make FY 2006 grants yet.

Senate Action Expected on Transportation Appropriations Bill
The full Senate is expected to act on its version of the FY 2006 transportation appropriations bill (H.R. 3058) soon after Congress returns from its Columbus Day break on October 17. Once the Senate approves the FY 2006 transportation appropriations bill, conferees from both Houses will need to develop a conference agreement to reconcile differences in the respective bills.
APTA continues to urge Congress to fund transit programs at the $8.622 billion level authorized and guaranteed by SAFETEA-LU. The House bill provides $8.482 billion for the federal transit program in FY 2006, while the Senate bill approved by the Appropriations Committee provides $8.208 billion for transit.

For more information on the FY 2006 appropriations bill, please contact Rob Healy of APTA’s Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4811 or email rhealy@apta.com

ACTION CALL!
Contact your congressional delegation and ask them to contact members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees with the following message:

• Explain that because the FY 2006 Transportation Appropriations bill was developed before SAFETEA-LU was completed, it does not fund new transit programs authorized under SAFETEA-LU, make important policy changes required by the new law, or provide the same overall level of funding authorized and guaranteed under SAFETEA-LU.
• Ask them to urge Appropriations leaders to reconcile the FY 2006 Transportation Appropriations bill with SAFETEA-LU and to fully fund the authorized and guaranteed FY 2006 transit program.

FY 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill Passed

The FY 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations bill was passed by the House yesterday and the Senate today. The President is expected to sign the bill. The conference agreement sent to the President contains $150 million for rail and transit security grants, the amount provided in the House-passed version of the bill and the same amount provided for the program in FY 2005. Prior to the conference committee’s approval of the bill, Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) offered an amendment to increase transit security funding to $400 million along with increases for other programs. Unfortunately, the amendment was rejected.

While funding for rail and transit security grants was not increased over last year’s levels, the conference report highlights other opportunities for security funding. The report urges the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to work with state and local governments to ensure transit authorities are given due consideration in the distribution of State Formula Grants. In addition, the Science and Technology Directorate is directed to identify research and design requirements for rail and transit security, and has been urged to investigate the use of nanotechnology in protecting transit systems. Finally, the report criticizes the Transit Security Administration’s pace for deployment for rail inspectors and canine teams to transit systems, urging the agency to quickly deploy all inspectors and canine teams as required by last year’s DHS appropriations legislation.

For more information on transit security issues, please contact Tom Yedinak of APTA’s Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4865 or email tyedinak@apta.com.

Hurricane Katrina Transit Relief Announced

Earlier this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta made available $47 million in federal emergency funds to help restore transit service to New Orleans and expand service in Baton Rouge after the city’s population doubled from 400,000 to 800,000 following Hurricane Katrina. Funding comes from emergency supplemental appropriations bills passed by Congress last month and will be dispersed under the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance program.
US DOT Developing Cost Estimate for Repairs

The U.S. Department of Transportation continues to develop estimates on the cost of repairing transportation infrastructure in the affected Gulf Coast regions. Reportedly, initial federal estimates for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama developed last week were about $3 billion for highways and bridges and $1.5 billion for public transportation, but these figures have not been released publicly. During testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation this week, Secretary Mineta declined to provide information on estimated costs, insisting that any current estimates are premature and could change significantly in the coming weeks.

Members of the Louisiana Congressional delegation introduced a $250 billion legislative package last week that included $17.3 billion for immediate repairs and future “critical needs” for the state’s transportation systems. The Appropriations committees in the House and Senate are reviewing the request and will likely consider a smaller package once the Administration releases its third emergency supplemental funding request to Congress for hurricane relief that is expected later this month or next.