Bill Would Grant $1 Billion for TIGER Program

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has introduced legislation that would make $1 billion available for federal transportation grants.

The TIGER Grants for Job Creation Act, H.R. 1124, would create a supplemental appropriation of $500 million each for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 to the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, known as TIGER.

The money would be exempt from sequestration cuts. They would be awarded competitively through the Department of Transportation, as with previous TIGER allocations.

Waters hopes the added spending to the extremely-popular program, which has consistently received far more applications than it has money available, will stimulate job growth while rebuilding U.S. infrastructure.

"I call upon my colleagues to pass the TIGER Grants for Job Creation Act, invest in our crumbling infrastructure, and create good jobs in communities across the United States," Waters said when she recently offered the bill last month.

TIGER received an appropriation of $500 million in fiscal year 2012, and President Obama requested $500 million in fiscal year 2013. However, the Secretary of Transportation has been unable to organize a competition for TIGER grants in 2013 due to the uncertainty surrounding sequestration and fiscal year 2013 appropriations, Waters added.

"An emergency supplemental appropriation for TIGER will allow the Secretary of Transportation to begin immediately to organize new competitions for TIGER grants and allow states, local governments, and transit agencies to prepare grant applications, thus ensuring an efficient use of funds and timely job creation," she said.

But despite the strong popularity of TIGER with state and local governments, which can use the grant money in conjunction with bond financing and public-private partnerships, the bill is likely to struggle with winning Republican support.

Municipal market participants said earlier this week that Republicans are unlikely to embrace the infrastructure agenda coming from the White House, which includes easing restrictions on private activity bonds, a new America Fast Forward direct-pay bond program that would allow AFF bonds to be issued for projects otherwise financed with PABs, and an additional $4 billion of funds for TIGER and Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act funding grants, loans and loan guarantees

During debate over adoption of a long-term surface transportation funding bill last year, Republicans on the House Committee on Appropriations offered a bill that slashed TIGER funding and eventually led to a current law which authorizes $500 million for projects of significance but not TIGER grants.

Waters' bill is awaiting action by both the Appropriations Committee and the Budget Committee.

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