Texas Transit Association

The United States Senate acted on the 2003 transportation appropriations bill on Thursday evening, January 23. The bill included funding cuts across-the-board of about 2.9 percent, but that it only affects the General Fund portion of federal transit funding, or $42 million. Included was a reduction in the Job Access and Reverse Commute program from its guaranteed amount of $150 million to $125 million. Funding for the New Starts program would increase by $25 million above its guaranteed level. The bill includes $31.8 billion for the highway program, the FY 2002 level, and $1.2 billion for Amtrak, the amount requested by Amtrak The Senate Appropriations Committee Chair has said that he expects the across-the-board cut to be around one percent after the Senate hammers out a compromise bill with the House. It is not clear whether the two Houses will be able to develop a conference bill before January 31, when the current continuing resolution expires. [Source: APTA]