DALLAS — President Obama plans during the next two months to send Congress draft legislation for a four-year, $302 billion reauthorization of the surface transportation funding program, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told reporters Tuesday during a briefing on the fiscal 2015 budget.
The proposed budget would provide a total of $91 billion in discretionary and mandatory spending by the Transportation Department, up from $76.6 billion in the current budget.
The draft surface transportation funding bill would increase infrastructure spending by 22% a year from previous authorizations. The current two-year funding law, Moving Ahead For Progress in the 21st Century, will expire on Sept. 30, at the end of fiscal 2014.
"We will do everything at the Department of Transportation to make this budget a reality, including sending a bill to Congress to support it ... within a couple of months," Foxx said.
Highway funding would be set at $199.2 billion over the four years, with $48.6 billion in fiscal 2015, $49.4 billion in 2016, $50.2 billion in 2017, and $51.1 billion in 2018, the final year of the plan.
The four-year plan would be funded in part with $150 billion of one-time revenues that could be generated by a proposed revamp of the corporate tax code. The gasoline tax revenues in the rapidly depleting Highway Trust Fund would be augmented with $63 billion from the tax reform.
"The President will work with the Congress to develop fiscally responsible solutions to address funding needs beyond the reauthorization window," budget documents said.
Funding in fiscal 2015 for transit and passenger rail programs would total $22.3 billion, an increase of $10 billion from 2014 spending. Transit would account for $72.3 billion over four years.
"The budget nearly doubles annual transit investments over the prior authorization, with resources supporting both existing capacity and expansion through projects involving bus rapid transit, subway, light rail, and commuter rail systems," budget documents said.
The budget would provide $19.1 billion over four years to passenger rail projects as part of an "integrated national transportation strategy," Foxx said. About half of that would be dedicated to high-performance rail, which includes high-speed rail and half for improvements to existing systems.
Freight rail projects would receive $10 billion of funding in the president's four-year plan. Obama would increase by $4 billion to $19 billion the cap on tax-exempt private activity bonds used for highway and raise transfer facilities. The cap is allocated by the DOT and does not fall within state PAB caps.
Some of the additional federal transportation spending would be through three grant programs: a new one, an existing one, and a temporary one that would be extended.
The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery competitive grant program would be funded with $1.25 billion in fiscal 2015 and made permanent, with $5 billion in total funding. The grant program was first authorized by the 2009 federal stimulus act.
The Federal Highway Administration would receive $1 billion a year over the four years to distribute as grants under the Transportation Infrastructure and Innovation Act program.
A new $4 billion, four-year Fixing and Accelerating Surface Transportation competitive grant program would begin with $500 million in fiscal 2015, providing incentives for state and local governments to adopt innovative reforms such as peak traffic demand management.
On the aviation side, funding for federal airport improvement grants would be reduced to $2.9 billion in fiscal 2015 from $3.35 billion this fiscal year.
The airport grants would be targeted to smaller commercial and general aviation airports with limited revenue sources. Larger hub airports would be allowed to increase the passenger facility charges to $8.00 from the current $4.50 to give those facilities more flexibility in raising revenue to support debt for new terminals and other capital projects.
The proposal to raise the PFC to $8 is nice, said Todd Hauptli, president and CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives, but an $8.50 charge with periodic increases for inflation would be better. "With federal investment in our nation's airport system declining and facing further constraints, airports desperately need additional tools locally to meet current requirements and to prepare for future demand," Hauptli said.
The PFC has not been increased in 14 years, he said. "It's time for the federal government to empower airport investment rather than stymie it by giving airports the self-help they need in the form of an increase in the PFC," Hauptli said. "We have a blueprint for moving forward, and we remain hopeful that Congress will act soon to give airports the tools they need to invest in critical infrastructure improvements."
