According to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), the U.S. Senate released legislative text on August 2 to extend fiscal year 2026 spending and the current core surface transportation authorization through December 11. The measure does not renew all funding categories included in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), resulting in annualized cuts of 9,5 billion dollars in federal highway and bridge investment and 4 billion dollars for public transit, ARTBA reported.
ARTBA stated that if these cuts remain in place for the entire fiscal year, they will represent the largest reduction in federal surface transportation investment since the creation of the Interstate Highway System in 1956. The shortfall stems from the exclusion of advance appropriations, a form of guaranteed IIJA funding that currently provides 4,25 billion dollars annually for public transit and 13,2 billion dollars annually for passenger rail, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Without that funding stream, overall federal public transit investment would fall by 20% and passenger rail investment by 83% from current fiscal 2026 levels, the association reported.
ARTBA said it has led industry stakeholders in dozens of Capitol Hill meetings and stakeholder letters to Congress over the past several months, pushing back against the proposed cuts. The Senate passed the stopgap package by a vote of 90 to 6 on August 8, sending the measure to the House, which had passed a similar bill on July 23. ARTBA noted that if the House does not take up and pass the Senate version, differences between the two bills will need to be resolved before the current law expires on September 30.
ARTBA said it will continue leading the stakeholder community and working with members of Congress to restore the lost investment in any final spending measure or future program extension, while also advocating for enactment of a full, five-year surface transportation reauthorization by the end of 2026.