Transportation Issues in the 108th Congress


 

Publication Date: October 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Transportation

Type:

Abstract:

Transportation Budget. The FY2004 Department of Transportation (DOT) budget was signed into law on January 23, 2004, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (P.L. 108-199). It provided DOT $58.8 billion, minus a 0.59% across-the-board rescission (about $58.5 billion). The President requested $58.4 billion for DOT for FY2005. The House passed its DOT appropriation bill (H.R. 5025) on September 22. The Senate Committee on Appropriations reported out a bill (S. 2806) on September 15, 2004, with $59.6 billion for DOT. DOT is operating under a continuing resolution (H.J.Res. 107/P.L. 108-307) until November 20, 2004.

Surface Transportation Reauthorization. Authorizing legislation for federal highway and transit programs was scheduled to expire at the end of FY2003. Congress has extended the existing authorization six, times, most recently to May 31, 2005 (H.R. 5183/P.L. 108-310). Disagreement over funding issues has delayed reauthorization: the White House has insisted on a total authorization of $256 billion; the Senate passed a $318 billion bill (SAFETEA; S. 1072 as amended) on February 12, 2004, while the House passed a $275 billion bill (TEA-LU, H.R. 3550) on April 2, 2004. Both House and Senate bills propose more spending than can be supported by current revenues to the Highway Trust Account; proposals to provide additional revenues have met with veto threats from the White House.

Aviation Reauthorization. Congress approved H.R. 2115 (P.L. 108-176), reauthorizing key Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) functions. A key issue was protecting certain air traffic control functions from privatization. The conference agreement omitted controversial protection provisions, accepting an FAA commitment not to pursue privatizing these functions during FY2004.

Transportation Security. The 9/11 Commission’s final report included recommendations for transportation security. H.R. 10 would enact some of the Commission’s recommendations for aviation security; S. 2845 would enact Commission recommendations on surface transportation security as well. Two passenger rail and transit security bills (S. 2273 and S. 2884) were passed by the Senate on October 1, 2004. A central policy issue in transportation security is balancing security improvements with the operational needs of transportation systems.

Amtrak Issues. For FY2004, Congress provided $1.225 billion for Amtrak, and deferred repayment of a $100 million loan. The Administration had requested $900 million, while Amtrak had asked for $1.8 billion; the same requests were made for FY2005. The House Committee on Appropriations has recommended $900 million for FY2005, the Senate Committee on Appropriations has recommended $1.2 billion. Amtrak’s authorization expired in 2002; reauthorization has been stalled by disagreement over the future of federal passenger rail policy.

Airline Industry Turmoil. The economy and world events have dramatically affected the airline industry. The airlines lost record amounts of money in 2002, which followed what had been the previous record loss experienced in 2001. Congress provided some short-term relief for the ailing airline industry in 2003.