This week, the House passed its FY 2016 appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD). The bill decreases funding for transportation by $1 billion by increasing funding for housing programs by $1 billion. Voting on passage of the bill fell mostly along party lines, with only 31 Republicans opposing the bill, and only 3 Democrats supporting it. Democrats voted against the bill based on their opposition to low spending levels under the sequestration.
For transportation, the bill would continue to fund highway, bridge, and transit programs at the levels authorized in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Two programs proposed for cuts are Amtrak, which would be cut by $262 million to $1.4 billion and the 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, at $900 million. Amendments to increase funding for Amtrak and TIGER were defeated.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has indicated that it will begin work on its THUD bill in either late June or early July. Senate Democrats have indicated that they will oppose the bill due to low spending levels just as their House counterparts did.