Department of Transportation (DOT): FY2017 Appropriations

Summary

In February 2016, the Obama Administration proposed a $96.9 billion budget for the Department of Transportation (DOT) for FY2017. That is approximately $22 billion more than was provided for FY2016. The budget request reflected the Administration’s call for significant increases in funding for highway, transit, and rail programs.

On May 12, 2016 the full Senate began its consideration of FY2017 appropriations for HUD as a part of a substitute amendment to H.R. 2577 that incorporates both the committee-passed version of the THUD bill (S. 2844) and the committee-reported version of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill.

The DOT appropriations bill funds federal programs covering aviation, highways and highway safety, public transit, intercity rail, maritime safety, pipelines, and related activities. Federal highway, transit, and rail programs were reauthorized in the fall of 2015, and their future funding authorizations were somewhat increased. There is general agreement that more funding is needed for transportation infrastructure, but Congress has not been able to agree on a source that could provide the additional funding. The federal excise tax on motor fuel, which is the primary funding source for federal highway and transit programs, has not been increased in over 20 years, and does not raise enough revenue to support even the current level of spending. To address this shortfall, Congress periodically transfers money from the general fund to keep the programs going.

The annual appropriations for DOT are combined with those for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations bill. The Senate Committee on Appropriations has reported out S. 2844, which would provide FY2017 appropriations for THUD. The committee recommended $76.9 billion in new budget authority for DOT, $1.8 billion more than the comparable figure in FY2016 but roughly $20 billion less than the Administration request. The increase in spending over FY2016 is not clear in budget tables due to a proposed rescission of $2.2 billion of contract authority, which makes the net FY2017 amount $344 million less than the comparable FY2016 appropriation.

The major changes from FY2016 levels in the Senate-reported bill are $905 million more for the federal highway program, $575 million more for the federal public transportation program, and $85 million for new federal grant programs for intercity passenger rail. The Senate-reported bill also includes a provision that would amend a provision included in the FY2016 DOT appropriations act suspending certain hour-of-service-related safety restrictions on commercial drivers pending the results of a study of their impact. Commercial drivers are generally limited to working 60 hours in a seven-day period, but have the option of starting a new seven-day period after a break of 34 hours (known as the 34-hour restart provision); a federal regulation issued in 2013 restricted use of the restart mechanism. The provision in the FY2016 act suspended enforcement of the 2013 restrictions. The provision in the current bill would also limit the total amount of time a commercial driver could work in any seven-day period to 73 hours; in the absence of the 2013 restrictions, a commercial driver can work up to 82 hours in a seven-day period.