FY 2023 Spending Package Clears Congress; Includes ‘Cornyn-Padilla’ Amendment

What happened: Both houses of Congress passed a final Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill, meeting authorized spending levels for federal road, bridge and public transportation programs and providing supplemental investment for surface transportation programs. When combined with the FY 2023 resources included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the federal government this fiscal year will allocate nearly $72 billion for highways, $21 billion for mass transit and $9 billion for airport construction. More details on the transportation spending levels can be found in the Dec. 20 Newsline story.

The package, which funds the federal government through Sept. 30, 2023, was amended by the Senate to include the‘Cornyn-Padilla’ amendment. This provision gives state and local governments additional flexibility to spend COVID-19 federal relief resources on transportation infrastructure projects.

Why it matters: While the IIJA authorized core Highway Trust Fund program funding for highway and mass transit projects, Congress needs to follow through on these promises by voting for actual annual spending. Having a final fiscal year spending bill signed into law gives state departments of transportation the certainty necessary to plan and obligate resources for road and bridge projects.

ARTBA members and staff worked diligently since July 2021 to see the‘Cornyn-Padilla’ flexibility language enacted. Most recently, ARTBA led 28 national organizations in a Dec. 16 letter to congressional leaders calling for the measure’s inclusion in the year-end spending package. While states and localities have already spent most of the $350 billion in COVID relief resources, the amendment’s language permits those jurisdictions with remaining funds to use them for transportation projects. Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and House members Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) led the effort to ensure this provision is enacted into law.

What’s next: President Joe Biden is expected to sign the measure into law before government funding runs out Dec. 23.