The House has begun floor consideration of the FY 2016 appropriations bill for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. 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 (cut by $262 million to $1.4 billion) and the TIGER grant program (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, and the HOME Investment Partnerships program, which provides housing assistance, would also be funded at the same level as this year, at $900 million.
House Democrats have indicated that they will oppose the bill due to its low spending levels under the sequester. Amendments to reverse the cuts to Amtrak and the TIGER Grant Program have been rejected on procedural grounds, since they do not provide an offset for the increased spending.