House Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY 2016 Transportation and Housing Bill

This week, the House Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development approved the FY 2016 funding bill for federal transportation and housing programs.  The bill would decrease transportation funding by $1 billion over 2015 levels, and increase funding for housing programs by $1 billion.  

For transportation, the bill would continue to fund highway, bridge, and transit programs at the levels authorized in MAP-21.  Two programs proposed for cuts are Amtrak, which would be cut by $262 million to $1.4 billion and the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, which would be reduced from $500 million to $100 million under the House approach.  For housing programs, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program would be held steady at $3.0 billion, while the HOME Investment Partnerships program, which provides housing assistance, would also be funded at the same level as this year, $900 million.  The bill will now move to the full Appropriations Committee for consideration.