Congress is set to vote on the FY 2011 transportation/housing appropriations bill today, please call your Congressman and ask them not to support this amendment that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is offering that could kill Amtrak.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, R (MN) #48 would eliminate the bill’s entire $1,203.5 million for Amtrak capital investment and debt service

This Fact Sheet deals with HR 5850, Transportation-HUD Appropriations for FY 2011, which the House is scheduled to consider later this week.

The bill provides a net $126.4 billion in budgetary resources, 4% more than current funding and 3% more than requested. The measure provides $67.4 billion in discretionary appropriations — 2% less than requested and 1% less than the current level — as well as $69 billion from various transportation trust funds.

The measure provides $79.4 billion in budgetary resources for the Transportation Department, 5% more than current funding and 2% more than requested, including $45.2 billion for highway programs (8% more than current funding), $11.3 billion for transit programs (5% more than current funding), $16.5 billion for the FAA (6% more than current funding) and $1.4 billion for high-speed rail grants (44% less than current funding). The bill does not include $4 billion requested for a National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund.

HUD would receive $46.6 billion, 1% more than in FY 2010 and 2% more than the request. The bill provides $19.4 billion, 7% more than current funding, for tenant-based Section 8 assistance and provides $9.4 billion, 10% more than current funding, for project-based Section 8 assistance. The measure includes an unrequested $200 million for the HOPE VI program and $4 billion for Community Development Block Grants.

Transportation Department

The bill provides a net total of $79.4 billion in budgetary resources for the Transportation Department, $3.7 billion (5%) more than current funding and $1.7 billion (2%) more than requested. This amount includes $66 million in net rescissions.

The funding in the bill includes a net of $20.4 billion in discretionary funds, $1.4 billion (7%) less than current funding, and $2.7 billion (12%) less than requested. The bill also provides for the obligation of $59 billion from various trust funds for highway, transit, and aviation programs.

The bill provides the following:

Highways — Total budgetary resources of $45.2 billion, including contract authority from the Highway Trust Fund, for the federal aid highway program, $3.1 billion (8%) more than current funding and $4.1 billion (10%) more than requested. This amount reflects $36 million in rescissions.

Mass Transit — $11.3 billion in budgetary resources for the Federal Transit Administration, $575 million (5%) more than current funding and $508 million (5%) more than requested. The bill limits to $9 billion obligations from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund for various formula and bus grant programs, $618 million more than the current limit. It also appropriates $2 billion for capital investment grants and $150 million for the Washington, D.C., area Metro system.

FAA — $16.5 billion in budgetary resources for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), $908 million (6%) more than current funding but slightly more than requested. The bill appropriates $9.8 billion for FAA operations and provides an obligation limit of $3.5 billion for grants-in-aid to airports under the Airport Improvement Program, equal to the request.

Amtrak & Rail — $1.8 billion for grants to Amtrak, $152 million (9%) more than the administration request and $202 million (13%) more than current funding, plus an additional $1.4 billion in grants for states to develop high-speed passenger rail service, $400 million (40%) more than the amount requested, but $1.1 billion (44%) less than the current level.

Safety — $548 million in net budgetary resources for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, $883 million in net budgetary resources for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and $202 million for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.