House Panel Approves $75.8 Billion DOT Budget

High-speed passenger rail got a $4 billion gift July 17 from the House Appropriations Committee as part of a $75.8 billion Department of Transportation budget for fiscal 2010.

The amount quadrupled the Obama administration’s $1 billion request, but Rep. John Olver, D-Mass., chairman of the subcommittee responsible for DOT, said that the number of preliminary applications for high-speed rail projects far exceeded the budgeted amount, and showed the “enormous pent-up demand for high-speed rail.”

The committee turned back a Republican attempt to peel $3 billion from the high-speed rail appropriation and transfer it to the Highway Trust Fund by a 37-22 vote. The HTF is projected to be bankrupt within a month, and it’s projected to need as much as $20 billion to get it through 2010.

Rep. Steve LaTourrette, R-Ohio, acknowledged that $3 billion was just a down payment for what the HTF needs. Olver said the money was too little and too late, because the budget won’t take effect until Oct. 1.

The committee turned down another administration priority item by providing no funds for a national infrastructure bank, because the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has not authorized its creation. If T&I creates one during the fiscal year, the DOT secretary is authorized to transfer $2 billion from the high-speed rail account.

The committee voted $3.5 billion for airport improvement, and $40 million for railroad line relocation and improvement. Amtrak received $553 for operations, and $993 million for capital and debt service.

The Maritime Administration received $333.5 million, including $174 million for the Maritime Security Program, $15 million for ship disposal, and $3.6 million for the Title XI loan guarantee program. The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. received $32.3 million.

The committee also approved budgets for two independent agencies. The Federal Maritime Commission, received $24.6 million, and the National Transportation Safety Board received $99.2 million.

Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.