As part of such certification, the transit agency shall submit to the Secretary a statement identifying the amount of funds from all sources (other than funds provided under this section and related non-Federal match) expended on transit operations during the prior fiscal year, and the amount expected to be expended on transit operations from all sources during the current fiscal year. (2) Failure to maintain effort If a recipient of funds under this section is unable to maintain the level of effort certified pursuant to paragraph (1) for any fiscal year, the amount such recipient would have received under this section in the following fiscal year shall be reduced by one-third. (k) Rule of construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an eligible recipient from increasing service through the use of any other Federal or non-Federal funds. (l) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027. (m) Definitions In this section: (1) Areas of persistent poverty The term area of persistent poverty means— (A) a county that has consistently had greater than or equal to 20 percent of the population of such county living in poverty during the most recent 30-year period for which data is available, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses