	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. Three rental assistance programs—Public Housing, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, and Section 8 project-based rental assistance—account for the majority of the department's funding. This can lead to confusion when comparing totals, as the total annual discretionary budget authority for THUD is typically around half of the total funding provided in the bill, with the remainder made up of mandatory contract authority. Table 3 shows the discretionary funding provided for THUD in FY2015, the Administration request for FY2016, and the amount allocated by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to the THUD subcommittees. FY2016 THUD Funding

As shown in Table 4 , the President's FY2016 budget requested $134.7 billion for the programs in the THUD bill, $27.4 billion more than appropriated for THUD in FY2015. Most of this increase was for highway, transit, and rail funding under the Administration's surface transportation reauthorization proposal; the request for DOT is $22 billion over FY2015. The request for HUD is $5 billion more than provided in FY2015, but $1.1 billion of that increase reflects a decline in savings available from offsetting receipts. The House-passed H.R. 2577 provides a total of $108.7 billion for THUD in FY2016. While this appears to be $1.5 billion over the net budgetary resources amount provided in FY2015, after accounting for a projected $1.1 billion reduction in offsetting receipts to HUD in FY2016 and the effects of $400 million in rescissions of funding in the FY2015 bill, the actual amount of new funding recommended in the House bill is virtually identical to the FY2015 level. The Senate-reported H.R. 2577 recommends $109.1 billion for THUD; after accounting for the differences in rescissions and offsetting receipts in FY2015, this represents an increase of less than 1% over FY2015 funding. How a $1.5-Billion Increase in FY2016 Budget Authority Turns Out to Be Level Funding—the Impact of Offsets

In the case of the THUD bill, net discretionary budget authority (which is the level of funding measured against the 302(b) allocation) is not the same as the amount of new discretionary budget authority made available to THUD agencies, due to budgetary savings available from rescissions and offsets. And since the subcommittee also proposed reducing the mandatory funding level by $25 million, the net change for FY2016 becomes zero. DOT in Brief

			House Action

For DOT, the House-passed H.R. A 9% ($199 million) cut from FY2015 to the transit Capital Investment Grants (New Starts & Small Starts) program. Senate Action

For DOT, the Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended:
$71.3 billion in budgetary resources, $368 million (0.5%) below the comparable FY2015 level. A 25% ($535 million) cut from FY2015 for the transit Capital Investment Grants (New Starts & Small Starts) program. President's Budget

The Administration's budget proposal for DOT included the following:
A request for $93.7 billion in budgetary resources, an increase of 31% over FY2015. $37.6 billion in net budget authority reflecting savings from offsets and other sources, which is $1.9 billion more than FY2015 ($850 million more in appropriations and $1 billion less in savings from offsets). House Action

For HUD, the House-passed H.R. No funding for the new incremental vouchers that were requested in the President's budget. Title III: Related Agencies

 Table 8 presents appropriations levels for the various related agencies funded within the Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
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 in the THUD bill, but when mandatory funding is taken into account, DOT's budget is larger than HUD's budget. Mandatory funding typically accounts for around half of the THUD appropriation.
The FY2015 THUD bill's appropriation totaled $107.3 billion: $53.8 billion in net discretionary funding and $53.5 billion in mandatory funding. The Administration requested net budget authority of $134.7 billion (after scorekeeping adjustments) for the agencies funded by the THUD bill for FY2016, an increase of $27.4 billion (26%). 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.
The House-passed bill (H.R. 2577) includes net budget authority of $108.7 billion for THUD in FY2016, $55.3 billion in discretionary funding and $53.5 billion in mandatory funding. In total, this is a 1% increase over FY2015 levels (+3% discretionary reduced by smaller offsets, about level mandatory funding). The Administration has issued a Statement of Administration Policy for H.R. 2577 criticizing the funding levels and certain provisions in the bill, saying that the President's advisors would recommend that the bill be vetoed. The Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended $109.1 billion in net budget authority and omitted certain provisions that the Administration had objected to, such as limitations on travel to Cuba.
DOT: The Administration requested a total of $93.7 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding for DOT for FY2016, an increase of roughly $22 billion (31%) over FY2015. The House-passed H.R. 2577 would provide $70.6 billion for DOT, $646 million less than in FY2015. The reductions were primarily to the TIGER grant program (-$400 million), the New Starts transit grant program (-$199 million), and Amtrak capital grants (-$252 million). The Senate-reported bill recommends $71.3 billion, $35 million below the FY2015 level; the major change from FY2015 levels is a proposed cut of 25% ($535 million) to the New Starts transit grant program.
HUD: The President requested $40.6 billion in net new budget authority for HUD for FY2016, $5 billion more than provided in FY2015 ($35.6 billion). The House-passed H.R. 2577 includes $37.7 billion for HUD, $2.1 billion above FY2015. Of that increase, $1.1 billion is attributable to a reduction in savings from offsetting receipts from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The bulk of the remainder of the increase is directed to funding the renewal costs of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and project-based rental assistance programs. The Senate-reported H.R. 2577 recommends $37.6 billion in net new budget authority, representing $850 million more in appropriations and $1.1 billion to make up for reduced offsets compared to the FY2015 level. Like the House-passed version, it prioritizes funding for Section 8 rental assistance.
Related Agencies: The Administration requested a total of $351 million for the agencies in Title III (the Related Agencies). This is about $1 million more than they received in FY2015. The House-passed H.R. 2577 would provide $342 million for the related agencies, cutting $8 million from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. The Senate-reported H.R. 2577 recommends $306 million, the $45 million reduction would come from the Neighborhood Investment Corporation.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations released a substitute amendment to H.R. 2577 on November 18, 2015; see the "Recent Developments" box on page 3 for detail.