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Government
Affairs |
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March 10, 2002
The Administration’s FY 2003 budget request would fund the
federal highway program at $23.2 billion, a 27 percent
reduction from the FY 2002 level of $31.8 billion. The
reduction is a result of the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority
(RABA) provision which requires highway funding to be adjusted
annually to reflect gas and related tax receipts. The RABA
provision is a component of the Transportation Equity Act for
the 21st Century (TEA 21) guaranteed funding
clause, unique to the federal highway program. For the first
three years of TEA 21, actual Highway Trust Fund Revenues were
higher than the projections included in the legislation. This
is the first year that RABA has resulted in a decrease in
federal highway funding.
The Highway Funding Restoration Act (H.R. 3694/S. 1917)
would restore highway funding in FY 2003 to not less than
the baseline level authorized in TEA 21. The measure has
been introduced in the House and Senate and has broad
bi-partisan support.
Just as the economy appears to be growing out of recession,
now is not the time to bring about the significant job loss
that such a dramatic reduction in highway construction and
maintenance programs would cause. Further, the proposed cut
would lower the amount of investment that states could use for
public transportation solutions sought by state and local
officials. According to the Federal Transit Administration,
states chose to use over $1.2 billion in flexible funds during
FY 2001 for public transportation projects.
The funding reduction would also establish an unrealistic
funding baseline for the pending reauthorization of surface
transportation programs.
APTA POSITION
- APTA supports the Highway Funding Restoration Act
(H.R. 3694/S. 1917), which would restore FY 2003
highway funding cuts resulting from application of the
revenue aligned budget authority provisions of TEA 21.
APTA supports maximum funding for surface
transportation infrastructure investment.
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Contact: Robert Healy, Director-Government Affairs, (202)
496-4811 or
rhealy@apta.com.
