Federal transportation spending would be cut by 13 percent, though the plan recommends setting aside $200 billion in new budget authority for a broader infrastructure initiative. The OMB projects $5 billion in outlays from that initiative in fiscal 2018, with the balance being spent out through fiscal 2026.
The budget released today reiterates proposals the administration laid out earlier this year in its “skinny” budget, including elimination of the popular TIGER grant program, an end to funding for long-haul Amtrak routes and the termination of federal subsidies for commercial passenger air service to rural airports through the Essential Air Service program.
New in the document is a preview of how the administration anticipates achieving the $1 trillion infrastructure investment the president announced during a speech before Congress earlier this year. The infrastructure fact sheet raises the prospect of expanding tolling on highways, allowing private companies to build and maintain interstate rest stops and expanding a program that provides loans for surface transportation projects.
“The goal is to see long-term reform on how infrastructure projects are regulated, funded, delivered and maintained,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told reporters in a call May 23.
