Biden Releases FY 2025 Budget

What happened:  President Joe Biden March 11 called for full funding of core federal surface transportation and airport capital investment programs at previously authorized levels in his administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget proposal.  Highlights include:

• $62.1 billion for federal highway programs, which, when combined with the previously enacted $9.5 billion in advance appropriations via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), would bring total core highway capital investment to $71.6 billion.  This would be an $800 million increase over IIJA-approved funding levels, which the administration would dedicate to both RAISE and MEGA discretionary grant programs.
• $4 billion in Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program resources for transit construction – $2.4 billion in FY 2025 appropriations added to the $1.6 billion in previously enacted IIJA spending.
• $8.4 billion in grants to improve airport facilities like runways, taxiways, and terminals.  The funds are from a $3.4 billion budget request, combined with advance appropriations of $5 billion from the IIJA.
• An administration call for Congress to allow states and localities the ability to use core transit and highway resources for transit operating costs.  The same request was made in FY 2024, but was ultimately rejected by lawmakers.

What’s next:  The President’s budget proposal is rarely acted on by Congress, but it serves as the annual starting gun in the race to get spending bills done by the start of the new fiscal year – a goal Congress and the administration haven’t met since 1996.  As the appropriations process moves forward, ARTBA will work to ensure full funding at IIJA levels for capital investment programs by Sept. 30.