	Introduction to Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations

The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations subcommittees are charged with drafting bills to provide annual appropriations for the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and six small related agencies. Title II of the annual THUD appropriations bill funds HUD. FY2015 THUD Discretionary Funding Allocation

The discretionary funding allocation to the Senate THUD subcommittee is $2.4 billion more than that provided to the House subcommittee. Table 2 shows the discretionary funding provided for THUD in FY2014, the Administration request for FY2015, and the amount allocated by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to the THUD subcommittees. FY2015 THUD Funding and Sequestration

The President's FY2015 budget included a request for $126.7 billion for THUD, $22 billion more than appropriated for THUD in FY2014. Most of this increase was for highway, transit, and rail funding under the Administration's surface transportation reauthorization proposal. The request for HUD is $4 billion more than provided in FY2014, but $3 billion of that increase reflects a decline in offsetting receipts; the decline in offsetting receipts means that HUD's appropriation would have to increase by $3 billion in order to provide the same amount of funding as HUD received in FY2014. The committee recommended that the reduction be divided roughly evenly between DOT and HUD, with cuts in DOT's TIGER grant program (-$500 million), New Starts transit grant program (-$252 million), Amtrak (-$200 million), and rescissions of other DOT funding (-$354 million). The Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended a total of $108.1 billion. This is $3.7 billion over the amount provided in FY2014, but only $700 million more than the FY2014 level once the $3 billion reduction in offsetting receipts in FY2015 is taken into account. Due to a $3 billion reduction in offsetting collections in FY2015 compared to FY2014, it would cost the THUD subcommittees an additional $3 billion in discretionary funding in FY2015 to provide the same level of total funding as provided in FY2014. Thus Congress is considering FY2015 DOT appropriations in the context of uncertainty about DOT's future program structure and funding. Overall, the FY2015 budget request totals $90.9 billion in new budget resources for DOT. Transportation authorization is outside the jurisdiction of the appropriations committees, but since most of DOT's appropriations come from the highway trust fund, the status of the fund is a key concern. The House bill would provide $70.2 billion in net new budget authority, $1 billion (1%) less than provided in FY2014. The Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended $155 million, the amount requested. High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail

Reflecting the Administration's surface transportation reauthorization proposal, the budget proposed a total of $4.8 billion for a new National High Performance Rail System program within the Federal Railroad Administration, consisting of two grant programs: $2.5 billion for a Current Passenger Rail Service grant program (which would primarily fund maintenance and improvement of existing intercity passenger rail service, i.e., Amtrak) and $2.3 billion for a Rail Service Improvement grant program (which would fund new intercity passenger rail projects as well as some improvements to freight rail). For FY2015, the Administration requested $2.5 billion for the program, roughly $550 million (28%) more than the $1.94 billion appropriated in FY2014. The House bill would provide $1.69 billion, $250 million (13%) less than the FY2014 level. The Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended $2.161 billion, less than requested but more than provided in FY2014. The President's budget requested $950 million for the HOME program, a 5% decrease from the FY2014 enacted level of $1 billion.
The House and Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations subcommittees are charged with providing annual appropriations for the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and related agencies. THUD programs receive both discretionary and mandatory budget authority; HUD's budget generally accounts for the largest share of discretionary appropriations, but when mandatory funding is taken into account, DOT's budget is larger than HUD's budget. Mandatory funding typically accounts for around half the total annual THUD appropriation.
The THUD bill's appropriation totaled $104 billion in FY2014: $51 billion in net discretionary funding and $53 billion in mandatory funding. But there is a decrease of $3 billion in offsetting receipts to HUD for FY2015 compared to FY2014. Thus, just to maintain the FY2015 THUD bill's overall budgetary resources at the same level as in FY2014, the THUD bill would need $3 billion more in budget authority than it received in FY2014. The House Appropriations Committee's FY2015 discretionary budget allocation to its THUD subcommittee is $52 billion ($1 billion more than the FY2014 discretionary funding level); the Senate Appropriations Committee's FY2015 allocation to its THUD subcommittee is $54 billion ($3 billion more than FY2014).
The Administration requested net budget authority of $127 billion (after scorekeeping adjustments) for the THUD bill for FY2015, an increase of $22 billion (21%). Most of this increase was for highway, transit, and passenger rail programs in DOT, reflecting the increased funding proposed in the Administration's surface transportation reauthorization proposal.
Congress is considering DOT appropriations in the context of the expiration of highway and transit authorizations at the end of the summer of 2014, and the projected insolvency of the highway trust fund before the end of the summer. The Administration requested a total of $91 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding for DOT for FY2015, an increase of roughly $20 billion (28%) over FY2014. The House provided $70 billion for DOT, $1 billion less than in FY2014. The reductions were primarily to the TIGER grant program (-$500 million), the New Starts transit grant program (-$253 million), and Amtrak capital grants (-$200 million). The Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended $72 billion for DOT, $1 billion more than the FY2014 level.
The President requested $37 billion in net new budget authority for HUD in FY2015, $4 billion more than provided in FY2014 ($33 billion). The House provided $35 billion for HUD, $2 billion above the net discretionary funding in FY2014. The Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended $36 billion, $3 billon more than the FY2014 level.
The Administration requested a total of $346 million for the agencies in Title II (the Related Agencies). This is $20 million (5%) less than the $366 million they received in FY2014. The reduction is almost entirely in the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation ($204 million in FY2015, $182 million requested). The House agreed to the requested level; the Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended $351 million, adding $4.6 million to the Neighborhood Investment Corporation.