The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released its version of the surface transportation reauthorization bill
"Right now, folks are looking at it and providing excellent feedback, some of them are providing horrible feedback," said Rep. Rick Larsen D–Wash., the ranking member on T&I. "It's important to get it done. It's a consistent and timely investment and it importantly brings jobs."
The bill provides a framework for the mechanism and amount of federal money flowing to states and municipalities using a combination of formula funding and discretionary grants.
Grants typically require matching funds, often raised through bond sales.
The debate between formula funding — which relies on fuel taxes collected via the insolvent Highway Trust Fund — and discretionary grants typically splits down party lines, with Democrats lobbying for less formula and more grants.
States lean into formula, which puts them first in line, while the locals prefer grants. Transit interests are typically pitted against highway fans.
"My priority during these negotiations is to keep progress going from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and we did that in many ways, and honestly fell a little bit short in some other ways," said Larsen.
The 1,005-page five-year bipartisan $580 billion
The major chunks of appropriations include the Federal Highway Administration receiving $376 billion, the Federal Transit Administration getting $87.6 billion and the Federal Railroad Administration netting $64.7 billion.
Overall, highways are coming out ahead while transit and rail are taking a hit by way of what's guaranteed and what's subject to the appropriations process.
"The Build America Act also provides very strong investment in transit," Larsen said.
"This total of $87.6 billion is far more highway trust fund investment in transit than the BIL, which provided $70 billion. It nearly matches the combined $91 billion in the BIL. So, it's a little bit less, but this is one of the areas that came into negotiation and people thought we wouldn't even get that close."
Transit advocates are looking for some help as the bill moves through markup and in the eventual Senate version.
"The BUILD America 250 Act is a great first step," said Paul P. Skoutelas, president and CEO of the American Public Transportation Association.
"We look forward to working with Congress to ensure that the act builds upon current investment levels, including guaranteed funding for public transit and passenger rail."
The bill attempts to simplify the discretionary grants programs favored by local governments by codifying the Safe Streets and Roads for All programs.
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program loans are clarified and bridge repair gets a boost.
"Funding for bridges increases from $40 to $45 billion in the bill, with a quarter of that set aside for local governments," said Larsen.
Money for bridges is seen as a big win for local governments.
"Thousands of cities, towns and villages reached out to Congress to ask that they prioritize the basic improvements that allow communities to repair and replace crumbling infrastructure and save lives on our roads," said the National League of Cities.
The bill also loosens permitting regulations, a familiar theme in the Trump administration.
"The act reflects many of AASHTO's core policy principles, such as streamlining programs with common objectives, enhancing the efficiency of environmental review and permitting processes," said the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Before the bill moves to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — and eventually the appropriations process — it needs to clear T&I, preferably without a floor fight.
"I think we will have a strong bipartisan vote out of committee, and when we get to the floor, we're going to have our inevitable king makers, so to speak, that decide they want to have their imprint," said Rep. David Rouser, R–N.C., chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee of T&I.
"They're not going to have the ability to derail this piece of legislation in a way that they derailed some other legislation, in large part because of the bipartisan product that we're going to produce. There's going to be a whole lot more of us than there are them," Rouser said.
