House Budget Writers told $545 Billion Needed for Nation’s Transportation Programs
(Source: AASHTO)
Enactment of the FY 2010 budget resolution “will be the starting point as the House considers the new surface transportation authorization bill,” Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller testified today before the House Budget Committee.
Appearing on behalf of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Miller outlined a six-year, multi-modal transportation investment that includes:
- $375 billion for highways;
- $93 billion for transit;
- $42 billion for freight, from outside the Highway Trust Fund; and
- $35 billion for intercity passenger rail, also from outside the Highway Trust Fund.
Miller noted that even before addressing authorization, however, the Congress must ensure that the Highway Trust Fund has sufficient revenue to fund the current program. An $8 billion transfer made by Congress last September may not be sufficient to last through the year, she said.
Miller’s complete testimony may be accessed at tinyurl.com/miller-2009-03-17. For information on AASHTO’s authorization recommendations go to www.transportation.org.
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