03.03.24

BILL SUMMARY: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill

 

Bill strengthens air and rail safety, protects vital funding to help Americans keep a roof over their head, boosts resources to reduce homelessness, and sustains key infrastructure investments while rejecting extreme partisan riders

 

***Bill text, explanatory statement, & more available HERE*** 

 

Washington, D.C. – The Fiscal Year 2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides $97.484 billion in total discretionary funding.

 

“I’m proud of our committee’s work on a bipartisan basis to fund vital programs that millions of Americans rely on every day,” said Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. “This bill includes critical funding to support affordable housing, help alleviate homelessness, improve roads and highways, and enable the hiring of air traffic controllers and rail safety inspectors—among other priorities. This funding can’t wait any longer, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate and House to pass this bill.”

 

“There’s so much more we need to do to end homelessness and ensure every American has a roof over their head, but this bill protects essential rental assistance for millions, boosts investments to reduce homelessness, and helps increase our nation’s housing stock,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This bill helps Americans get to where they need to be more safely and efficiently by hiring new air traffic controllers and rail safety inspectors and by providing more oversight funding to prevent unacceptable safety failures. Importantly, this bill sustains critical investments as Democrats rebuild America’s infrastructure and keep our country moving forward.”

 

Key Points & Highlights – Transportation

 

Department of Transportation (DOT): The bill provides $106 billion in total funding for the Department of Transportation, of which $79 billion is from obligation limitations and $27 billion is from discretionary funding. This amount includes significant new resources to ensure the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is able to maintain the safest, most efficient, and most complex air traffic control system in the world, the safety of our rail network, and capital investments to improve the state of good repair of our transit systems.

 

RAISE Grants: The bill provides $345 million for the RAISE Grant program. When combined with the $1.5 billion in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) advanced appropriations, the RAISE Grant program will see $1.845 billion in total funding in fiscal year 2024. As the only multimodal DOT program available to local units of government, the program allows communities to make transformative investments in their transportation infrastructure that help improve mobility and safety.

 

FAA Staffing and Modernization: The bill provides $20.082 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration, an increase of $1.058 billion over fiscal year 2023. This includes:

  • $12.73 billion for FAA operations, which will allow the FAA to continue its air traffic controller hiring surge by adding 1,800 new controllers, improving training facilities at the air traffic controller academy, and addressing the reliability of critical IT and telecommunications legacy systems. The bill also strengthens aircraft certification and oversight efforts by providing funding for 125 new positions in the Office of Aviation Safety to increase oversight of Boeing and fully implement the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act.
  • $3.191 billion for FAA facilities and equipment, which will accelerate critical next-generation programs, such as Terminal Flight Data Manager and DataComm, to improve the efficiency of air traffic control and reduce flight delays. In addition, the bill provides $15 million above the President’s budget request for airport ground surveillance to help reduce the likelihood of runway incursions.
  • $3.882 billion for Airport Improvement Program grants to reduce emissions at airports, build airport infrastructure necessary to support unleaded fuels and sustainable aviation fuels, and build resiliency at airports in the face of climate change and worsening natural disasters.

 

Highways and Bridges: The bill provides $62.991 billion for federal-aid highways, consistent with the IIJA-authorized level of spending from the Highway Trust Fund, with an additional $2.225 billion for Highway Infrastructure Programs. This includes $250 million for a new bridge bundling grant program, $150 million for the Tribal Transportation Program, $100 million for the Appalachian Development Highway System, $7.5 million for Scenic Byways, and other critical investments.

 

Amtrak and Rail Safety: A total of $2.97 billion is provided for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). This includes $2.42 billion for Amtrak to sustain operations, maintain a state of good repair, and safely get passengers to their destinations—rejecting devastating cuts proposed in the House bill, which would have resulted in reduced or entirely suspended service on routes across the country.

To address the rail safety deficiencies identified in the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, the bill provides a $27.3 million increase for FRA’s safety and operations budget—meeting the President’s budget request for rail safety inspectors.

The bill also directs specific research requirements for: (1) wayside detection technology, operational alert thresholds, and rail carrier response protocols to inform and verify the technologies capabilities and establish industry-wide standards; and (2) long-train operational safety to evaluate equipment safety standards for brake systems and wheel performance to inform the development of continuous component monitoring.

The bill also increases funding for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) emergency preparedness grants to $46.825 million and requires the agency to conduct research to improve the survivability of placards identifying hazardous materials on trains.

 

Transit Infrastructure: The bill provides $16.6 billion for the Federal Transit Administration—including $2.2 billion for Capital Investment Grants, $1.43 billion above the House bill.  When combined with the $1.6 billion in IIJA advanced appropriations, a total of $3.8 billion is available for Capital Investment Grants in fiscal year 2024, which is sufficient to fully fund all projects with full funding grant agreements and those expected to enter into a grant agreement this year.

 

Maritime Administration: The bill provides $940.7 million for the Maritime Administration, $44.6 million above fiscal year 2023. This includes:

  • $184.7 million for the United States Merchant Marine Academy, of which $70 million is for capital improvement projects to fully meet the President’s budget request to modernize the service academy’s facilities and train the next generation of mariners;
  • $125.8 million for State Maritime Academies, of which $86.6 million is for the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel Program;
  • $53.6 million for the Title XI Program to fund new loan guarantee applications for commercial ship construction;
  • $120.5 million for the Port Infrastructure Development Program, which when combined with the $450 in IIJA advanced appropriations makes a total of $570.5 million available this fiscal year; and
  • $362 million to fund the defense vessel programs, including:
    • $318 million for the Maritime Security Program;
    • $10 million for the Cable Security Fleet Program;
    • $60 million for the Tanker Security Fleet Program, with $25 million in prior year funds provided for workforce training needs to help mariners meet the specialized requirements on these vessels; and
    • $12 million for the design of a new National Defense Reserve Fleet vessel.

 

Transportation Infrastructure for Tribes: The bill includes $25 million to supplement the Rural and Tribal Infrastructure Advancement Pilot Program to deliver financial, legal, technical, and project development assistance in an effort to improve Tribal access to transportation infrastructure programs at DOT. It also includes $150 million in FHWA’s Tribal Transportation Program and $500,000 for transit technical assistance for Tribes.

 

Key Points & Highlights – Housing and Urban Development

 

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): The bill provides $70.07 billion in funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development–to maintain all existing rental assistance while increasing efforts to reduce homelessness, connect people to both housing and health care, and remove barriers to housing opportunities and development, including unnecessary administrative burdens.

 

Reduces Homelessness and Improves Connections to Health Care: The bill provides $4.05 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, a $418 million increase above fiscal year 2023. In addition to sustaining investments for existing projects, addressing youth homelessness, and supporting survivors of domestic violence, the bill provides:

  • $100 million for permanent supportive housing, a $25 million increase over fiscal year 2023;
  • $25 million for an inflationary adjustment for supportive service projects so that providers can hire and retain qualified personnel; and
  • $2.5 million for direct technical assistance to communities that are leveraging other funds, like Medicaid, to connect individuals experiencing homelessness to housing-related services and behavioral healthcare.

In addition, the bill allows HUD to complete funds on a biennial basis, which will free up valuable staff time and resources to focus on service delivery rather than paperwork.

 

Increases the Supply of Affordable Housing: As communities across the nation continue to face a shortage of affordable homes, the bill makes critical investments to increase the supply of housing so that Americans can keep a roof over their head. The bill includes:

  • $1.25 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program—rejecting draconian cuts proposed in the House bill. The HOME program is the primary federal tool for state and local governments to produce affordable rental and owner-occupied housing. This funding level will lead to the construction of more than 7,000 new rental and homebuyer units.
  • $100 million for the second year of the “Yes In My Back Yard” grant program—a $15 million increase over fiscal year 2023. State and local zoning and land use laws and regulations that limit the number of units that can be built are a significant contributor to the lack of housing supply and production. These restrictions on development are driving up housing costs. While some communities have made progress in removing barriers to affordable housing production to keep up with market demand, the federal government must play a supporting role to strengthen these efforts and help jurisdictions increase their housing stock and lower housing costs.
  • $6.7 billion for local community development and affordable housing needs through the Community Development Block Grant formula program and Economic Development Initiatives.

 

Expands Access to Housing Assistance for Tribes: The bill provides a record $1.344 billion for the Native American Housing Block Grant program. Through this historic level of funding and the sustained investment in the Tribal Housing and Related Agency Infrastructure Interagency Task Force, the bill will make significant progress in addressing the dire housing needs of Indian Country, where residents are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty and nearly three times more likely to live in overcrowded conditions compared to other U.S. households.

 

Preserves and Strengthens Investments in Rental Assistance Programs: The bill maintains critical support for HUD’s rental assistance programs, which help nearly 5 million vulnerable households—more than half of whom are elderly or people with disabilities—keep a roof over their heads. This includes:

  • $32.4 billion for tenant-based Section 8 vouchers, a $2.1 billion increase above fiscal year 2023, which includes funding to make 3,000 new incremental vouchers available to youth aging out of foster care and veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness. 
  • $16 billion for the project-based rental assistance program to renew housing contracts, a $1.1 billion increase above fiscal year 2023.
  • $8.8 billion to operate and address the capital needs of public housing, a $297 million increase above fiscal year 2023.

 

Increases Alignment and Flexibilities for Affordable Housing Programs: The thicket of statutory, regulatory, and procedural requirements for federal housing programs can undermine program results, lead to wasteful duplication, and require excessive time and resources from grantees. To reduce the number of duplicative property inspections that occur when a project is funded by multiple federal housing programs, the bill supports efforts to improve inspection standards while also ensuring coordination across federal housing programs. To improve the speed and effectiveness of vouchers serving youth aging out of foster care, the bill streamlines the award process and authorizes the Secretary to waive certain requirements that are consistent obstacles to successful leasing.

 

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