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  On Thursday, the House completed action on Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) version of a FY 2014 budget resolution mostly by a party-line vote of 221 to 207. While the budget resolution is nonbinding, it nevertheless establishes the overall framework for funding government programs for next year. The Ryan budget provides an ambitious plan to balance the federal budget and have a $7 billion surplus in 10 years.  To get there, the budget forecasts cuts of $5.7 trillion – compared to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline –calls for the repeal of ObamaCare, and calls for lowering the top tax rate to 25 percent. The House budget projects a significant drop in highway and transit spending in FY 2015 because of insufficient Highway Trust Fund revenue and would restrict the ability of Congress to transfer general fund revenue to help bail it out.

The House and Senate this week finalized action on a continuing resolution (H.R 933) to fund federal government programs through the remainder of the fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2013). Following a strong push by �������ϲʿ���Ԥ�� lobbyists and a grassroots effort by �������ϲʿ���Ԥ�� members, the Senate amended the House version of the CR to include full MAP-21 funding levels for federal highway and transit programs. The House then approved the amended bill and sent it to the president for his signature. The House bill would have reduced highway funding in FY 2013 by nearly $600 million and transit funding by $125 million.

Today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee held a hearing on the implementation of the transportation reauthorization bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21).  At the hearing, Chairman Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and members of the subcommittee heard from Department of Transportation (DOT) modal administrators as to the progress being made in implementing programmatic reform and meeting deadlines mandated in MAP-21.  The subcommittee heard from Victor Mendez of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Peter Rogoff of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Anne Ferro of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and David Strickland of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

This week, Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) unveiled their FY 2013 appropriations bill, H.R. 933 – the Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013.  The bill includes five individual appropriations bills for spending in the following agencies: Defense, Military Construction/Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Homeland Security, and Commerce/Justice/State. The bill is currently being debated on the Senate floor.   Both the House and Senate versions of H.R. 933 leave the $85 billion March 1 budget sequester in place, but by changing the account-level priorities within each agency in those two (House) or five (Senate) bills, they can lessen some of the more disruptive effects of the sequester.

�������ϲʿ���Ԥ�� annually participates in National Work Zone Awareness Week which is used as an opportunity to get media coverage to raise public awareness about the dangers for highway construction workers and motorists when road improvements are under way. This year’s National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) will take place April 15-19, 2013, with the theme “Work Zone Safety: We’re All In This Together.” While the number of fatalities, crashes and injuries have decreased in the past several years the problem still remains. NWZAW was conceptualized in 1999 as a way to recognize and focus on roadway work zone safety every April. A national event is scheduled for April 16, 2013, in Washington, D.C. to get the most media coverage possible. Many �������ϲʿ���Ԥ�� chapters cooperate with their state DOTs in promoting Work Zone safety and also planning local and state media events. �������ϲʿ���Ԥ�� of America serves on the Executive Committee planning the National event.

The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) and Airport Improvement Program are not included in the sequestration process that was implemented by President Obama on March 1, 2013. While the Highway Trust Fund is not included in sequestration, general fund transfers into the trust fund resulting from the recently enacted MAP-21 would be cut by $471 million, hastening the date when the trust fund will once again be unable to support annual funding levels. HTF revenue is sufficient to fund the program in FY 2013. Transit program new start capital grants, which are support from general fund revenue will be cut by $156 million.

Because congress was unable to pass the appropriations bills necessary to fund government programs in FY 2013, a six month Continuing Resolution (CR) was enacted at the end of last year. The current CR funded most federal government operations for the first six months of FY 2013 at similar levels to those provided in FY 2012. With the CR expiring on March 27, 2013, House Republicans are in the process of finalizing a CR that will keep the government funded through the end of the Fiscal Year on Sept. 30, 2013.  The bill currently being drafted by House Republicans would effectively cap spending at around $974 billion compared to the $1.043 trillion cap in the current CR.  This reduction is due to the sequestration cuts that started on March 1. The House may take up the legislation as early as next week.

On Wednesday, the White House issued a fact sheet providing more detail on the infrastructure proposal from President Obama’s State of the Union Address.   The Administration’s plan recognizes the need to continue focusing on our nation’s growing infrastructure needs, but falls short in addressing the long-term financial challenges of the federal infrastructure programs.  The summary of the President’s plan can be found here.

Earlier this week, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a joint final rule implementing new regulations to speed up the environmental approval process for the repair or reconstruction of any road, highway, or bridge damaged in an emergency declared by either the state’s governor or the president.

Today, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held its first hearing of the 113th Congress focusing on the importance of infrastructure to the U.S. economy and examining the role played by the Federal Government in ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable infrastructure.