NRC Capitol Clips

Federal Transit Administration Shows Grantees the Money

2012-01-12T15:27:00.000-05:00

If you're a grantee of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), there's one Federal Register notice you probably await more than any other. That would be the annual list of FTA's apportionments and allocations. With Pres. Obama having signed the FY 2012 transportation appropriations into law on November 18, those who depend on FTA formula grants have been waiting with bated breath for this year's announcement, which was published in the January 11, 2012, Federal Register.

This year's notice runs 71 pages in length, most of which is taken up in tables showing allocations of FTA's various formula-based grants to states and urbanized areas, along with a healthy dose of other useful and important information. Although no substitution for reading the notice yourself, here are a few interesting aspects to this year's apportionments notice:

1. It's not a full-year apportionment. Because current transportation authorizations expire March 31, 2012, FTA is able to allocate only half of the funds derived from the federal Mass Transit Account. Depending on what actions Congress and the President take this spring (more extensions? reauthorization?), it's reasonable to expect one or more similar notices later this year, making the rest of FTA's funds available....once authorized.

2. FTA is giving a "heads up" on forthcoming discretionary grant competitions. Now that Congress largely has given up the process of "earmarking" specific projects in appropriations bills, FTA, like other federal agencies, has more money available for discretionary grants of its own design and determination (subject, of course, to federal authorizations). So, in this year's apportionments notice, FTA indicates that there soon will be national competitions for (a) "State of Good Repair" bus & bus facility grants ($650 million expected to be available, solicitation of applications likely to be announced later this month), (b) "Livability" bus & bus facility grants ($125 million expected to be available, solicitation to be announced later this month), and (c) "Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative" bus & bus facility grants ($25 million expected, solicitation to be announced later this month). FTA also gives the heads up for this year's rounds of some other discretionary grant competitions: Section 5308 Clean Fuels bus grants ($51.5 million to be available, solicitation to be announced later this month), Section 5339 Alternatives Analysis grants ($25.0 million to be available, solicitation likely to be announced in February), Section 5311(c) tribal transit grants ($15.0 million to be available, solicitation to be announced in February), and Section 3038 over-the-road-bus accessibility grants ($8.8 million to be available, solicitation anticipated in March).

3. FTA continues to use 2000 population data. The Census Bureau is still in the process of analyzing 2010 census data to identify urbanized areas, their populations, etc. Until these data are released, FTA has to continue relying on 2000 data for the population, population density, and other demographic factors in its funding formulas. Once released, these data may lead to significant changes in the distribution of Section 5307, 5311, 5316 and 5317 funds as places find their urbanized area status categorized differently under the 2010 census. To help prepare for these changes, FTA has launched a "Census and FTA Formula Grants" page on its website, which is in the process of being populated with useful, explanatory information.

Therefore, it seems reasonable to say that this 71-page document leaves FTA grantees with a couple of immediate assignments. For one, all current recipients of FTA formula grants know what steps they need to follow next as a result of the apportionments notices. Second, those who are considering the FTA State of Good Repair, Livability, or Veterans grants should begin doing some background research, as FTA has indicated these solicitations will hit the airwaves in the next few weeks, and will have fairly quick application deadlines.

VA Proposes Rules on Forthcoming Transportation Grant Program

2012-01-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

The Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) isplanning to launch a program of grants to state veterans service agencies andlocal veterans services organizations to help provide transportation to VAmedical care for veterans in "highly rural areas" (defined in this case as those counties or county equivalents with population densities ofless than seven persons per square mile). This program is being established asa result of Section 307 of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health ServicesAct of 2010, which Pres. Obama signed into law on May 5, 2010 (P.L. 111-163). The legislation authorized $3 million per year from FY 2010 through FY 2014, and called upon VA to establish a program of $50,000 grants during this period to help states and local veterans service organizations address veterans' medical transportation needs in highly rural areas.

Before the VA can begin soliciting grant applications, they need to have the program structure in place, so they currently are seeking public comment to the rules they have proposed for this program. A notice appears in the December 30, 2011, Federal Register. While most of the proposed regulation for this program is simply a re-statement of the legislation, VA does have some elements that need meaningful input, such as the scoring criteria for applications under this program and the proposed reporting requirements for this program's grantees. Comments are due February 28, 2012.

For more information on this planned program, as well as the Veterans Transportation Service and other VA transportation initiatives, contact the VA's David Riley by email (david.riley3@va.gov) or phone (404-828-5601).

Federal Appropriations - the year-end wrap

2011-12-23T14:28:00.001-05:00

It seems almost as if the FY 2012 appropriations were all about buses. Once Congress got down to work, they first churned out the "Minibus," an appropriations bill that covered Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation and HUD. And then, to finish up all the necessary spending bills, along came the "Megabus," which funded everything else. Below are a few pertinent highlights from these bills, followed by a coda from the "Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act," which Congress just completed before racing off on its holiday break.

First, from the "Minibus," which was signed into law last month:

Funding to the Federal Transit Administration goes up to $10.6 billion, an all-time high. Within the FTA portfolio, formula grants (which would include Section 5307, 5310, 5311, 5316, 5317) all increase by 0.2 percent. The legislation allows for Section 5307 funds to be used to cover urban transit agencies' fuel costs, up to a nationwide total of $100 million. There's a 22 percent increase in funding for New Starts/Small Starts fixed guideway spending, accompanied by provisions that require 40 percent non-federal match for those grants, and require Bus Rapid Transit projects to be funded out of the Section 5309 bus/bus facilities account instead of the Section 5309 New Starts/Small Starts account. FTA "TIGGER" grants are eliminated. No funding is designated for DOT "livability" grants. The DOT-wide "TIGER" program is funded at $500 million.

HUD's Community Development Block Grants continue to decline, and are funded at $2.9 billion in this legislation. Within the HUD portfolio, no funding is identified for "livability" projects, but the final version of this legislation is at least tolerant of livability being an allowed, if not appropriated, use of HUD dollars (the initial House legislation would have banned funding for livability).

Then, from the "Megabus," which Congress sent to Pres. Obama on December 17 for his signature:

Medicaid funding is estimated at $270.7 billion in FY 2012, which would be a 4 percent increase from FY 2011.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is authorized only through a portion of FY 2012; its funding will be the prorated share of $16.5 billion for the year.
Workforce Investment Act programs continue their gradual decline, and are funded at $4.9 billion in FY 2012.
Vocational Rehabilitation grants will be maintained at the $3.1 billion level.
Community Services Block Grant programs will increase to $713.6 million for FY 2012 (despite having been recommended for a 50 percent cut in President Obama's budget request).
Older Americans Act Title III-B funds for supportive services, senior centers, etc., will be maintained at the $367.6 million level.

Finally, the "payroll tax cut" bill which just finished being negotiated between the House and Senate includes a short-term extension of the TANF authorization, through February 29, 2012 (TANF was set to expire on December 31). The legislation is silent on the Internal Revenue Code's Section 132(f) "qualified transportation fringe benefit," which means that - as of January 1, 2012 - the allowance for tax-free transit benefits drops back to the pre-ARRA level of $125 per month (this amount may be adjusted slightly by the IRS to account for inflation).

Planning to use your cell phone & drive a commercial vehicle? Think again!

2011-12-21T17:33:00.000-05:00

Talking and texting on handheld devices in motor vehicles continues to gather a large amount of media and highway safety attention. While actions such as the National Transportation Safety Board's recent recommendation that there be a nationwide ban on the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (including both handheld and hands-free cell phones) and US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood's ongoing campaign against all forms of distracted driving have attracted the most widespread attention, other actions more directly affect the operations of public and human services transportation.

Most recently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a final rule restricting the use of cell phones by operators of commercial motor vehicles. This rule was published on December 2, 2011, and takes effect January 3, 2012.

At its core, this rule is very straightforward: drivers of commercial motor vehicles are prohibited from using handheld mobile telephones while driving the vehicle, except in emergency situations. Motor carriers (i.e., the companies and entities employing drivers of commercial motor vehicles) are prohibited from allowing or requiring their drivers to use handheld mobile telephones while driving, except in emergencies. States are to adopt laws or ordinances that are consistent with this restriction. Drivers found to have repeated violations of this restriction will face suspensions of their commercial drivers licenses (CDLs).

Note that FMCSA already has a regulatory restriction against "texting" while driving a commercial motor vehicle. The December 2 rulemaking modifies a couple of small aspects of the texting restriction to help it confirm to the handheld mobile phone restriction. Although there has been much discussion, and forays into highway safety data, about broadening the scope of these rules, no further action has been taken by FMCSA to date. Their restrictions currently apply only to texting on mobile communication devices while driving, and using handheld mobile telephones while driving. However, many agencies and employers, and even some states, have more extensive restrictions on the use of mobile devices while driving.

Of course, even though the nature of this rule is fairly simple, its applicability to public transportation and to the various forms of human services transportation becomes much more murky. A few general tips are below, but if you're concerned about compliance, the most important steps are to contact your state's motor carrier safety agency (typically housed within your state DOT) or your state's FMCSA office.

For providers of public or human services transportation, it would appear you MUST comply with the FMCSA restrictions on using handheld mobile phones if:

You are operating a motor vehicle for which federal law requires the driver to hold a CDL and this vehicle is used for interstate transportation (of course, most states have near-identical requirements for intrastate transportation), or
You are operating a vehicle designed to seat between 9 and 15 passengers (including the driver) in interstate transportation for which you are compensated, whether through passenger fares, contracts, grants, etc. (again, most states have near-identical requirements for intrastate transportation).

Because FMCSA's regulatory authority extends only to activities of interstate commerce, it would appear the FMCSA restriction on handheld mobile phones and texting do not apply to drivers of motor vehicles who are the direct employees of units of federal, state or local government. However, it's entirely possible that drivers who work for state or local government, and the agencies employing them, are covered under individual states' motor carrier safety regulations, including restrictions on the use of handheld phones and mobile texting devices. Moreover, the FMCSA "governmental" exclusion cannot be extended to the contractors or grantees of federal, state or local government, nor to nongovernmental private entities created by the action of state or local government.

As a final reminder, neither these nor most other FMCSA regulations apply to the operation of vehicles designed to seat 8 or fewer passengers, even when interstate in nature.

Incremental Steps Forward

2011-09-22T17:07:00.003-04:00

The mass media may have been abuzz over the recent setback when the House failed to consider a temporary continuing resolution for the federal government's spending (for example, the Los Angeles Times reported "House rejects government funding bill as shutdown looms"). Reality hasn't yet been quite so dire. Consider the following bits that have taken place on Capitol Hill in the past few days:

1. A short-term extension of SAFETEA-LU was signed into law on Sept. 16. It sustains most federal highway and transit spending authority at current levels through March 31, 2012. Note that this is an authorization, not an appropriation. Federal funding for transit and highway projects are dependent on the annual appropriations bills.

2. The Senate Appropriations Committee just approved its version of a FY 2012 Transportation-HUD spending bill that would fund most federal transit programs at close to their FY 2011 levels. This is in contrast to the transportation spending bill that moved through the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month, in which most federal transit and highway spending would be cut by more than 30 percent.

3. The House has just passed a short-term extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which would sustain its spending authority at current levels through December 31, 2011.

4. The Senate Appropriations Committee also has cleared its version of a FY 2012 Labor/Health & Human Services/Education appropriations bill. Other spending bills also are advancing, albeit in fits and starts, through the House and Senate Appropriations committees.

With respect to the annual appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year, the overwhelming assumption is that they will be folded into some form of an omnibus appropriations act, which has become the more common way Congress has handled its control of federal purse-strings in recent years, but the tendency is to base these catch-all bills on whatever has been done to date with individual bills, so the farther along they are, the greater sense we would have of what to expect.

Congress: Moving Right Along?

2011-09-08T12:34:00.001-04:00

This week, Congress keeps racing the clock, moving down parallel tracks in terms of FY 2012 appropriations and the need to extend (and eventually reauthorize) the SAFETEA-LU highway and transit legislation. All of this is supposed to be done by September 30, of course.

In today's news, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reported out a four-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, which, if agreed to by the other Senate committees of jurisdiction, the full Senate, and the House, would tide surface transportation authorizations over through January 31, 2012. Conceivably simple, even this glide path is said to be facing numerous obstacles, according to DC Streetsblog and other sources.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, the House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee drafted its version of FY 2012 spending, which includes a 30 percent reduction in funds for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and its programs. The draft bill provides for a tiny increase in Section 5309 funding for "new starts" and "small starts," but dictates that these funds are only available for small starts and for honoring those Full Funding Grant Agreements currently in place for new starts. The cuts all would be taken, presumably pro rata, in FTA formula grants, planning and research. In a bit of explanation on its website, the appropriators say "the Committee is prepared to support a higher formula bus spending level should a new, multi-year authorization bill be enacted."

Congress: Getting Down to Business?

2011-09-07T16:41:00.000-04:00

In theory, there's a lot of work that Congress needs to do this month, relative to transportation.

The current extension of the SAFETEA-LU surface transportation authorization expires on Sept 30, along with the federal government's authority to collect the motor fuel taxes and other fees that support the nation's highway and transit funding programs. While the White House and Transportation Secretary LaHood and among those who've have raised the level of concern about what could happen if these authorizations were allowed to lapse, the prevailing sentiments from Congress, including House Transportation & Infrastructure committee chair John Mica [R-Fla.], are that there will be another short extension of current authorizations, which may be followed up by an honest-to-gosh reauthorization effort (drafting of this legislation already is taking place in the Senate, and is being discussed in earnest in the House). This week, in fact, a short-term SAFETEA-LU extension is working its way through the Senate Environment and Public Works committee.

The Capitol Hill news media are going to be paying a lot of attention to the "Super Committee" (officially known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction) that is tasked with recommending debt and deficit containment measures that would influence federal budgeting for FY 2013 and beyond, if all goes according to plan. Despite the certain media spotlight over the ruminations and actions of this committee, bear in mind that their work is not expected to affect FY 2012 spending.

Meanwhile, action on FY 2012 appropriations is happening, a little bit on the edge of the spotlight. At this point (especially with that fiscal year beginning in just over three weeks), the anticipated end result will be some form of catch-all, or "omnibus" spending measure for the year, as has been the case in almost every recent federal fiscal year's appropriations. However, the race is on in both the House and Senate appropriations committees to move as far and fast as they can on next year's appropriations, as their work, no matter how far along it's progressed, will inform the final product on FY 2012 spending.

With respect to those FY 2012 appropriations most directly affecting public transportation and its partners in coordination, here's this week's status report, as reported in the Library of Congress' "Thomas" web site:

Transportation-HUD: House appropriations subcommittee markup set for Sept 8; no Senate action
Labor-HHS-Education: possible House appropriations subcommittee consideration Sept 9; no Senate action
Military Construction-VA: H.R. 2055 passed House June 14, passed Senate July 20, awaiting House-Senate conference or negotiation
Agriculture: H.R. 2112 passed House June 16; Senate Appropriations full committee markup set for Sept 7
Homeland Security: H.R. 2017 passed House June 2; Senate Appropriations full committee markup set for Sept 7
Commerce-Justice-Science: H.R. 2596 reported out of House Appropriations committee July 13; no Senate action
Interior-Environment: H.R. 2584 reported out of House Appropriations committee July 13; no Senate action

Mobility Management, Transportation can be funded through HUD Family Self-Sufficiency Grants

2011-05-02T18:12:00.000-04:00

Recently, the US Dept of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the availability of nearly $110 million to provide support for individuals to get better connected with education, job training and supportive services. This is being done through a set of family self-sufficiency grant announcements. While there may be some creative ways in which these funds can be used for the actual provision of transit services for some residents of HUD-related housing (I can imagine instances of purchasing transit passes or vouchers, for example), the primary transportation connection for these HUD grants would be for what transportation folks would call 'mobility management,' such as the hiring or retention of caseworkers and service coordinators who can link people with the appropriate organizations and providers of a number of services, specifically including transportation.

Specifically, HUD has released notices of funding availability, inviting grant applications for three programs: (a) Public and Indian Housing Family Self-Sufficiency, (b) Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency, and (c) Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency. Public housing authorities are the only eligible applicants for most of these funds, although some other community-based housing-related organizations may be eligible to apply for the resident opportunities and self sufficiency grants.

Therefore, the best course of action for interested public transportation and mobility management stakeholders to pursue is to engage in a dialogue with local public housing authorities, and see about striking up partnerships or relationships that would fit the parameters of one or more of these funding opportunities.

Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency grant applications are due to HUD by June 8, 2011.
Public and Indian Housing Family Self-Sufficiency grant applications are due to HUD by June 29, 2011.
Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency Service Coordinator grant applications are due to HUD by July 13, 2011.

Coordination of Transportation Services Gets GAO Spotlight

2011-03-04T15:28:00.000-05:00

Most of the time, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a quiet watchdog, helping Congress examine the effectiveness of federal programs and activities, and working hard to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse. This past week, though, GAO sailed out into the media limelight, with an attention-getting government-wide examination of duplication in federal government programs.

This 345-page report, entitled Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, received coverage from all corners of the media spectrum, including National Public Radio, the Washington Post, Fox News Channel and many other news outlets. Following the report's publication, the Comptroller General, Gene Dodaro, gave testimony on the GAO findings at a March 3, 2011, hearing convened by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

As we state on the front page of the National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination's (NRC) web site, www.NRCtransportation.org, coordination between transportation and human services is "good practice, good policy." That same thinking permeates this GAO report. In numerous points throughout the report, GAO highlights opportunities for the federal government and its programs to function more effectively through several aspects of streamlining and interagency or intergovernmental coordination. Here are just a few highlights that pertain to coordination between transportation and human services:

1. Citing a 2009 NRC report, GAO recommends that the eleven federal departments and agencies comprising the interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) "should identify and assess their transportation programs and related expenditures and work with other departments to identify potential opportunities for additional coordination such as the use of one-call centers, transportation brokerages, or shared resources, among other options.... [and] should develop the means for collecting and sharing this information by establishing agency roles and responsibilities and developing a strategy to reinforce cooperation."

2. In another recommendation regarding coordination between transportation and human services, GAO states "Federal departments also have more work to do in developing and disseminating policies and grantee guidance for coordinating transportation services. This is important because state and local grantees typically look to their administrating departments for guidance on issues such as coordination."

3. Picking up a point that has been raised by the NRC in 2009, and in a special CCAM Report to the President in 2005, GAO observes that "progress has been made in coordination efforts, particularly at the state and local level. However, to assure that coordination benefits are realized, Congress may want to consider requiring key programs to participate in coordinated planning."

The above points, and related comments, such as GAO's current estimation that there may be 80 federal programs whose funds may be used in some way to provide transportation services to "transportation disadvantaged" populations, but for which there continue to be no reliable data on the precise number of such programs, nor the nature or extent of how these programs' expenses are used on transportation, all can be found on pages numbered 134 through 139 of the GAO report (if reading on line, note that these are the 139th through 144th pages of text in the PDF version of the document).

Some other GAO findings and recommendations that pertain to the coordination of transportation and human services include:

Using the overdue reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU as a vehicle to overcome the growing fragmentation of federal surface transportation programs. GAO had looked at one small part of this fragmentation in 2009, recommending that "consolidating the application processes for three federal transit programs that provide funding for transportation-disadvantaged populations [i.e., the FTA Job Access, New Freedom, and Section 5310 programs] could reduce the administrative burden for states and transit agencies applying for these funds."
Improving collaboration among the economic development programs administered by USDA, HUD, the Small Business Administration, and the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration.
Promoting streamlining, instead of duplication, among the various safety and security systems for transit and trucking that have been established by the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Reducing the programmatic inconsistencies between USDA's various food and nutrition programs.
Taking steps to better coordinate the many programs that provide services and assistance to homeless persons.
Co-locating federally funded job training programs and consolidating their administrative structures.
Transforming the New Markets Tax Credit into a federal grant-making program.
Helping states do more to "implement and oversee processes to prevent, identify, and recover improper payments and to reduce the billions of dollars that are annually lost to improper Medicaid payments."

Judging from the reception of this report on Capitol Hill and across the news media, it would appear that there is much interest in finding ways to promote improved coordination of services. To borrow a phrase from the Roosevelt administration, "We Do Our Part" at the National Resource Center to make the coordination between public transportation and human services an effective reality.

No need to hold your breath....at least not this week

2011-03-03T22:24:00.000-05:00

Many people in the nation's public transit community were becoming increasingly worried this past week, when speculation increased by the minute that there would be a lapse in federal appropriations, and at the same time, the legislative authority for highway and transit programs under SAFETEA-LU also would lapse. With regard to federal spending, every government agency was readying its "contingency plans," and preparing the messages to communicate to grantees and customers. Within the US Department of Transportation (DOT), extra effort was being paid to what could or could not be done if there were to be a lapse in authorizations.

However, the cause for concern has passed, if only for the moment.

A short-term continuing resolution has been signed into law that keeps federal funds on tap for two more weeks, through March 18, 2011. As was widely reported in the news media, this stopgap measure included several billion dollars of budget cuts, but none of those cuts, not even those identified within the DOT, appear likely to have any effect on transit programs or grantees. In general, the spending cuts under this continuing resolution represent programs that were carried over from last year's appropriations, but which neither President Obama nor Congress had any intention of funding this year in the first place.

Today, President Obama is expected to sign another bill into law: the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011. This bill basically extends SAFETEA-LU through the end of the current fiscal year. This takes a lot of the pressure off both Congress and the DOT, in the short term, but pressures to renew our nation's federal highway and transit programs remain very real and very urgent.

While worries over SAEFTEA-LU authorizations may have eased for now, the issue of federal appropriations continues to loom large. Expect more last-minute legislative drama in two weeks' time.

FTA Sets Its Position on "Buy America" Waivers

2011-02-17T09:22:00.000-05:00

Many of the community-based programs that partner with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grantees to provide coordinated transportation services use small (by transit standards) vehicles, often purchased "off-the-lot" from dealers. Quite a few of the minivans, vans, and other small transit vehicles are produced, at least in part, in Canada, Mexico, or overseas. When FTA funds are involved, it becomes important to assure compliance with FTA's specific and unique "Buy America" requirements. Indeed, a few communities have turned to non-FTA sources, such as the HUD Community Development Block Grant program, for vehicle purchases at least in part because the process of assuring Buy America compliance becomes a challenging obstacle.

This week, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff put into writing a statement of principles that had been in force ever since states and transit agencies began purchasing vehicles with "stimulus" funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but which FTA applies to all vehicle acquisitions involving FTA grant funds, regardless of programs.

In this February 16, 2011, "Dear Colleague" letter, Mr Rogoff explicitly states, "FTA will not consider any requests for a public interest waiver of FTA’s Buy America regulation." In this same letter, he goes on to say "FTA has raised the bar for all Buy America waiver requests. All requests will be scrutinized. Most requests will result in FTA offering technical assistance to develop a solution that will not necessitate a waiver. Please be cautious about leading your projects down a path where a Buy America waiver will be needed, as it is unlikely to be granted."

Given the tenor of this letter, anyone concerned with the Buy America provisions that apply to capital purchases involving FTA funding should pay close attention to the regulations and related information at FTA's "Buy America" web page.

President Obama Sends FY 2012 Budget Request to Congress

2011-02-14T18:36:00.000-05:00

Even when submitted on Valentine's Day, the annual budget request from the White House is far from a fait accompli. However, these documents, chock-full of details and ideas, do help shape the basis by which the annual appropriations process begins to unfold. That said, there are many interesting ideas wrapped up in this latest budget request, and it will be even more interesting to see which of these gain traction in the halls of Congress.

Since the budget documents (which all are posted on-line at the Office of Management and Budget's website) are about annual spending, here's a quick rundown of what is being discussed that may be of greatest relevance to the federal investment in public transit and its most closely linked medical, workforce and social services programs.

Federal Transit formula grants
President Obama and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood are requesting total spending for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of $22.4 billion in FY 2012. This is more than double the funds appropriated to FTA in FY 2010 and 2011. Within the formula-based transit grant programs, the FTA budget request would increase "Section 5307" urban transit grants to $6.2 billion and "Section 5311" rural transit grants to $766 million. Although the details would have to be contained within a SAFETEA-LU reauthorization, the Administration's budget request calls for consolidating the current "Section 5310" funding for elderly and disabled persons' transit, "New Freedom" funding t, and "Job Access and Reverse Commute" (JARC) funding under a $405 million "Consolidated Specialized Transportation" grant program. In addition, there is a DOT-wide initiative requested under this budget proposal for $50 billion of "Up-Front Investments," of which at least $3 billion is sought for additional funding of urban and rural transit projects at a 100 percent federal share, plus $7.5 billion for 100 percent federally funded fixed-guideway modernization projects, and $1.0 billion for "New Starts," above those covered in the existing Section 5309 program. Another notable feature is the Administration's request that there be a mechanism by which urban transit funding in areas experiencing unemployment above a certain threshold would be able to be used to cover a portion of those grantees' operating costs.

Medicaid
Federal payments for Medicaid are a form of mandatory spending that is outside the annual appropriations process. In the budget request, it is estimated that federal spending on Medicaid will be $270.7 billion in FY 2012.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Federal payments to states for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are a form of mandatory spending that is outside the annual appropriations process. TANF spending is fixed by law at $16.4 billion per year.

Workforce Investment Act programs
Employment and training grants under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), along with funding for closely related federal job training programs, are slated for a reduction of approximately 12 percent, to $3.5 billion under the President's budget request. The bulk of that funding would continue to be directed to workforce development activities for dislocated workers ($1.3 billion), youth ($965 million) and job-seeking adults ($792 million).

Older Americans Act programs
The portion of Older Americans Act funding that is directed to supportive services and senior centers, which historically has been a significant partner to many urban and rural transit arrangements, is slated for a 13 percent increase under the President's budget request, to a level of $468 million. Elsewhere in the Administration's request is an interesting note, that President Obama is seeking to shift management of the Senior Community Service Employment Program away from the Department of Labor and into the Administration on Aging.

Community Development Block Grants
The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant program would receive a 20 percent cut under the President's budget request, to $3.7 billion.

Community Services Block Grants
Making good on a commitment he made in his most recent State of the Union speech, President Obama is requesting a 50 percent reduction in funding for Community Services Block Grant activities, to $350 million.

Vocational Rehabilitation
Grants from the Department of Education to state vocational rehabilitation agencies are slated for very slight growth, to $3.1 billion in FY 2012 under the President's budget request.

Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits and Other Tax Credits
Although tax expenditures are not a part of the annual appropriations process, the President's budget documents are the one place where the estimated values of these "tax breaks" all are noted in one place, typically without much analysis or commentary. As anyone who follows these items can suspect, the leading tax expenditures continue to be the tax deductions for employer-provided health care (estimated at $173.8 billion in FY 2011) and itemized deductions for mortgage interest on personal residences (estimated at $88.7 billion in FY 2011). Of greater interest to public transportation and its partners are the impacts of the Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit for transit and vanpooling (estimated at $510 million in FY 2011) and, for a much smaller segment of the population, the claimed value of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (estimated at $1.0 billion in FY 2011). Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, some transportation projects were able to be financed with Build America Bonds; although that program has since terminated, the tax expenses associated with current Build America Bonds are estimated at $2.6 billion in FY 2011. Credits claimed for activities financed through New Markets Tax Credits are estimated at $800 million in FY 2011.

Transit Money Made Available

2011-02-09T10:56:00.001-05:00

In this climate of SAFETEA-LU extensions and short-term continuing resolutions, the Federal Transit Adminsitration (FTA) is rather constrained in its ability to allocate transit funds to states and communities. Every so often, the statutory window opens, and some funds are made available.

On February 8, 2011, FTA published a notice allocating formula-based transit funds for the first 5/12 of the current federal fiscal year. This notice provides partial apportionments and allocations for: statewide and metropolitan transit planning (Sections 5303 and 5304), urbanized area transit grants (Section 5307), fixed-guideway modernization (an element of Section 5309), elderly persons and individuals with disabilities transit capital (Section 5310), rural transit grants (Section 5311), job access and reverse commute grants (Section 5316), and new freedom transit grants (Section 5317).

For details, see the notice on FTA's website at http://www.fta.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/grants_financing_12353.html. NOTE: although this notice was "officially" published in the February 8, 2011, Federal Register, that notice contains formatting errors that arose during the Federal Register publishing process; please rely on FTA's website, and not the as-published Federal Register, for the most accurate information (besides, the FTA page will include any updates and additional allocations as those become available).

CDL-Holding Drivers: Don't Use Handheld Devices While Driving

2010-12-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

Drivers who are required under federal law to hold Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDLs) would be prohibited from using cellphones or similar handheld devices for conversation or texting while driving, under a rule proposed last week by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

There is a lot of literature and data to support the need to prevent "distracted driving," of which cell phone/texting use is a critical risk. The proposed rule would not place new restrictions on two-way or citizen-band radios. However, since many community transportation organizations are using cell-phone based technologies for their core communication functions, study and comment on this proposed rule is well-advised.

The proposed rule was issued in the December 21, 2010, Federal Register. Comments are due to FMCSA by February 22, 2011.

Transit Benefit "Parity" Will Continue for one more year

2010-12-17T09:44:00.000-05:00

Today or tomorrow, Pres Obama is expected to sign an $858 billion package of tax cuts and extensions into law. While some provisions of this legislation, such as the extension of unemployment benefits, and a temporary rollback of payroll taxes for Social Seucrity, will be noticed by almost every working and non-working person, there is at least one nugget of news for the transit community.

Sec. 727 of the tax relief bill continues the temporary "parity" of tax-favored transit benefits for one more year, through December 31, 2011. This means that employers can continue to provide tax-free transit and vanpooling benefits of up to approximately $230 per month under Section 132(f) of the Internal Revenue Code. This is the same as the amount of tax-free parking benefits employers are allowed to provide.

Prior to enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), transit benefits were capped at an annually adjusted rate that was approximately half the value of allowed parking benefits. ARRA provided a temporary increase for transit, but this going to expire this month, and the transit benefit would have reverted to an estimated $120 per month, were it not for this legislative action.

Other aspects of the "tax relief" bill may be noticed in some corners of the transit community. There are extensions of the Work Opportunity Credit and New Markets Tax Credits, which can facilitate employment of certain populations and tax-favored investments in economically distressed areas, respectively. Some "post-Katrina" and "post-9/11" tax credit programs also are extended. On the other hand, the "Build America Bonds" program created under ARRA is not being extended, and new bonding will come to an end this month.

In other news, Senate efforts to pass a comprehensive "omnibus" appropriations bill have fallen apart. Senate leaders are regrouping, to see what next steps to take. Since the current continuing resolution expires this weekend, some action is imminent, but it's hard to gauge whether the next legislation will sustain government spending for a few days, a few months, or the remainder of the current fiscal year.

Preparing for extensions, continuations

2010-12-09T07:57:00.000-05:00

As widely reported, federal spending for the current fiscal year (i.e., the year ending September 30, 2011, or FY 2011), has not been finalized by Congress and Pres. Obama. The current "continuing resolution" is keeping the federal government in business through Dec. 18, 2010.

The House has passed a massive, government-wide continuing spending bill that would sustain federal programs and activities through the remainder of the fiscal year. Under this legislation, most federal programs would be sustained at their FY 2010 funding levels, with some adjustments here and there. The House bill appears to be devoid of specific project earmarks.

For a number of reasons, this bill is believed to face an uncertain fate in the Senate. Until something predictable starts to emerge in Senate deliberations, I'm loath to post or predict funding levels.

In the transportation arena, one of the critical components of the House spending bill is a one-year extension of the current SAFETEA-LU highway and transit legislation, continuing these authorizations through September 30, 2011.

Speaking of extended authorizations, another piece of legislation, the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, was just signed into law by Pres. Obama. While the headline features of this bill are guaranteeing settlements for Native Americans (over BIA-administered trust accounts) and African-American farmers (concerning improperly denied farm loans), a key feature of this legislation for public and community transportation stakeholders is an extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program authorizations through September 30, 2011.

HHS Publishes FMAP rates for 2012

2010-11-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

One of the most important numbers for state budgeting and other purposes is the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, or FMAP. At its core, this number represents the rate at which the federal government will reimburse states for medical services they provide through Medicaid, but FMAP rates also are used in a number of other federal programs, including the Children's Health Insurance Program, support to states for child support enforcement, some payments to states through the Child Care and Development Fund, and some assistance to states for foster care and related programs.

Because these programs, especially Medicaid, represent huge portions of states' budgets, FMAP-based reimbursements loom large in state budgeting. As a result, state agencies and their partners are taking note of a notice published today (November 10) by the US Dept of Health and Human Services, establishing the FMAP rates that will be in effect from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012. FMAP rates are calculated every year. Current and historical rates are posted on-line by the HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). The rates for FY 2012 appear in the November 10, 2010, Federal Register, but soon will make their way to the ASPE web site.

For transportation providers, FMAP rates may be behind-the-scenes, but are significant. States spend close to $3 billion a year on non-emergency transportation through their Medicaid programs, much of which is provided by public and community transportation services. Since the overwhelming majority of states claim these transportation expenses as a "medical" expense, reimbursed by the federal government at the FMAP rate, any change in those percentages will affect the bottom line of states' Medicaid budgets, and can influence the ways in which states procure and pay for their Medicaid non-emergency transportation.

If you are unfamiliar with FMAP rates, here's a bit of background. They are calculated annually using a formula based on each state's average per capita income. The lower a state's per capita income, the higher its FMAP. By law, no state FMAP can be lower than 50 percent, nor higher than 83 percent (14 states have FMAPs of 50 percent; Mississippi's FMAP is the highest, at 74.73 percent in FY 2011 (going down to 74.18 percent in FY 2012). The District of Columbia's FMAP is set at 70 percent; the FMAP in territories and possessions is fixed at 50 percent. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, there was a temporary increase of at least 6.2 percentage points in every state's FMAP, which has steered nearly $92 billion of additional federal investments into state Medicaid coffers.

Heed This! FTA Posts Annual Certifications & Assurance Notice for FY 2011

2010-11-02T17:05:00.000-04:00

If you plan on receiving funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) this fiscal year, please take note of their latest "Certifications and Assurances" notice, which was published in the November 2, 2010, Federal Register, and which is available on the FTA website. The fine print may seem eye-numbing, but there is comfort in knowing that there were only modest, updating, changes this year, and there is even greater comfort in knowing that you're agreeing to uphold applicable federal requirements in the receipt and use of your FTA funds. All FTA grantees must agree to these. If you have questions, contact your FTA regional office.

National Transit Database - What's Going to Count?

2010-10-05T16:35:00.002-04:00

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) uses its National Transit Database (NTD) for a number of purposes. Most significantly, NTD data are used to determine how funds are distributed under the FTA Section 5307 (formula grants for urban public transit) and fixed-guideway modernization programs. Since these two programs account for 55 percent of the FTA program, it's important to the transit community and to FTA that NTD data be reliable and consistent.

In recent years, the urban transit network has branched out in many innovative ways. More urban transit services are provided to specialized audiences, such as customers of human services programs. Urban transit providers are using new modes of service delivery, such as "flex route" or "route deviation" services, bus rapid transit, and vanpools to better serve various customers and communities. With commuting distances growing longer every year, many urban transit providers are extending services into surrounding rural areas, or even providing transit services that connect multiple urbanized areas. In order to assure that these urban transit systems are able to receive the FTA formula funds they need for these services, accurate NTD data are essential.

To that end, FTA is seeking comments on some amendments it hopes to make to the NTD reporting procedures that will be used in the 2011 reporting year. This solicitation of comments appears in the October 5, 2010, Federal Register at page 61553, and also appears on the FTA website. Comments are being collected through December 6, 2010.

Some of the NTD reporting topics for which FTA is seeking customer input are: (1) circumstances and criteria for reporting vanpool data to the NTD; (2) reporting for commuter bus, bus rapid transit, and various forms of rail transit modes; (3) clarifying some definitions of certain aerial tramway and rail-related reporting terms; (4) consistent reporting procedures for transit agencies with 9 or fewer vehicles, including those that operate in both urbanized and rural areas; (5) simplified financial balance sheet reporting; (6) rules of attribution for transit agencies operating in more than one urbanized area, or that operate in both urbanized and rural areas; and (7) procedures for responding to any changes in urbanized area status that may occur during the 2011 NTD reporting year.

Official comments on this FTA notice should be made electronically through www.regulations.gov (use docket number FTA-2010-0027]. For further information on the NTD and this particular FTA notice, contact FTA's John Giorgis by phone (202-366-5340) or email (john.giorgis@dot.gov)

Access Board Announces Field Hearings on proposed new vehicle guidelines

2010-09-08T10:43:00.002-04:00

In July, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board ("Access Board") announced its proposed new vehicle accessibility guidelines for transit vehicles.

A bit of information on that proposal appeared in a previous "NRC Capitol Clips" posting.

If you're interested in speaking out with regard to the Access Board's proposal, take note of two recently announced field hearings. One is in Chicago on September 30, the other is in Washington DC on November 8. Since the notice is fairly brief, the entire announcement (taken from the September 8, 2010, Federal Register) is below....

SUMMARY: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance
Board (Access Board) will hold two public hearings on a proposed
rule to revise and update its accessibility guidelines for buses,
over-the-road buses, and vans. 
DATES: The first public hearing will be held in Chicago, IL on Thursday,
September 30, 2010 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. (CST). The second public
hearing will be in Washington, DC on Monday, November 8, 2010 from
9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. (EST). To pre-register to testify, please contact
Kathy Johnson at (202) 272-0041 or Johnson@access-board.gov. 
ADDRESSES: The first public hearing will be held at the Courtyard Marriott
Magnificent Mile, 165 East Ontario Street, Ontario Rooms B and C, Chicago,
IL 60611. The second public hearing will be held at the Access Board
Conference Room, 1331 F Street, NW., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004. 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Pecht, Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board, 1331 F Street, NW., Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20004.
Telephone (202) 272-0021. E-mail pecht@access-board.gov. 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 26, 2010, the Access Board published a
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register to revise and
update its accessibility guidelines for buses, over-the-road buses, and vans.
75 FR 43748 (July 26, 2010). The comment period on the proposed rule ends on
November 23, 2010. The Access Board will hold two public hearings on the
proposed rule during the comment period. The dates and locations of the
public hearings are provided in this notice. The public hearing locations
are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Sign language interpreters
and real-time captioning will be provided at the public hearings. For the
comfort of other participants, persons attending the public hearings are
requested to refrain from using perfume, cologne, and other fragrances.
To pre-register to testify, please contact Kathy Johnson at (202) 272-0041
or Johnson@access-board.gov.

Senate passes bill to continue Medicaid relief

2010-08-06T18:34:00.002-04:00

Federal spending on Medicaid will continue at the higher rates established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or the "stimulus bill"), under legislation passed by the Senate on August 5, which the House is expected to endorse on August 10.

This temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), which is the rate at which the federal government reimburses states for their medical expenses under Medicaid, has been slated to expire December 31, 2010. However, the budgets in almost every state are such that they simply cannot absorb Medicaid expenses at the lower, pre-ARRA, reimbursement rates. The Senate's legislation extends that FMAP increase for 6 months, to June 30, 2011.

Inasmuch as 37 states and the District of Columbia all provide non-emergency medical transportation service to their Medicaid enrollees as a medical expense, reimbursed at the FMAP rate, this legislation will be likely to have a major positive effect on the continued transportation access to health care services for Medicaid enrollees.

Three side issues are of note with regard to this legislation: (1) ARRA also created a program of supplemental "emergency" funding for states' Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, which continues to be slated for expiration this year; (2) ARRA increased the allowable dollar amount of employees' tax-free transit benefits to $230 per month, but that increase is slated to expire on December 31, 2010; and (3) social media fans have noted that the first announcement calling the House back into session for its August 10 vote on this bill came as a "tweet" from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which is the first time that Twitter was used to conduct official business of the House of Representatives.

On ADA's 20th Anniversary, New Guidelines Proposed for Transit Accessibility

2010-07-27T22:51:00.003-04:00

On July 26, 2010 - the 20th anniversary of the signing into law of the Americans with Disabilities Act - the US Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board ("Access Board") published proposed guidelines that - if implemented - would make sweeping changes to the specifications for accessible transit vehicles in the US.

These are proposed guidelines. Nothing is final. Comments are being collected by the Access Board through November 23, 2010.

Transit professionals, disability community advocates, and manufacturers of transit vehicles and accessibility features are aware that these proposed guidelines are the latest iteration in a series of proposals the Access Board circulated in spring of 2007 and autumn of 2008. Based on comments received on those proposals, the Access Board has refined its draft guidelines in this latest publication; evidence suggest that these guidelines are close to what is intended as a final rule. If so, look to such a document being published in the spring or early summer of 2011.

The current proposal, along with a wealth of background information, is found at the Access Board's website, www.access-board.gov, or can be retrieved as a 43-page PDF from the Federal Register (July 26, 2010, Federal Register, page 43747 et seq.). In this proposal, the Access Board has 21 leading questions to which they specifically are requesting informed comments, but they are welcoming public comment on all aspects of the rule.

Technical experts and concerned stakeholders should comb this proposal closely, and prepare their comments for submission.

There seem to be a few truly significant aspects to the proposal, including all-new dimensions and rules of definition concerning wheelchair securement positions on transit vehicles, all-new language to define the accessibility of ramps for low-floor transit vehicles, new requirements for automated stop announcements on many buses (specifically, all buses of 22 feet or more in length that are used by transit agencies with 100 or more buses in service for fixed-route transit), and new guidelines concerning accessibility of bus rapid transit (BRT) services.

Although little about this proposal addresses wheelchair lifts (perhaps that's a sign of evolving technologies in accessible public transit?), it's interesting to note that the earlier idea of increasing the maximum weight to 660 lbs has been dropped, and these accessibility guidelines continue to speak to the requirement of a maximum of 600 lbs that lifts and other accessibility features must be designed to accommodate.

Finally, it's good to recall that any guidelines, once finalized, would affect only future acquisitions of transit vehicles (including buses, over-the-road coaches, and vans that are used for public transit). Just as was the case when the current guidelines were issued in 1991, nothing about these rules would require any retrofitting of any transit vehicles in current use.

If you have concerns or expertise, it is vital that you submit comments on this proposal. Repeatedly, the Access Board's proposal notes items in which they have received contradictory or incomplete information from the field to inform their final guidelines, so they may really need to hear from you this time around.

House to Act Soon on Transportation Spending

2010-07-26T23:44:00.004-04:00

Later this week (probably on Wednesday July 28 or Thursday July 29), the House is expected to vote on its version of FY 2011 Transportation-HUD appropriations.

As reported in a prior "Capitol Clips," the House spending bill would increase Federal Transit Administration (FTA) spending by 5 percent over current levels. Almost every dime of the transit increases proposed in the House legislation would go to increases in the FTA formula grant programs. It would appear the House is all but disregarding the Administration's request for funding its livable communities initiative (some funds are identified in the Secretary of Transportation's office budget for this), and is also disregarding the Administration's request for a multi-billion dollar infusion of funds into a national infrastructure bank.

It's harder to tell when the Senate will act on its version of Transportation-HUD appropriations. The Senate's version of this bill was approved by its Appropriations Committee on July 22, but the timing of Senate floor action is hard to predict. Its spending bill would not increase FTA programs by any significant amount. Although the Senate does not go along with the Administration's request for transportation funding of the livable communities program, it would call upon FTA and the Federal Highway Administration to jointly allocate $200 million of their planning capacity building funds to support planning efforts that better links transportation and housing.

In case you're looking to follow these bills more closely, it's good to note the bill numbers currently assigned to House and Senate bills: HR 5850 and S 3644, respectively.

Spending Bills Take One Step Forward in House

2010-07-02T16:20:00.002-04:00

In the current Congressional climate, it's not really clear how next year's federal spending bills will be handled (okay, so most of the pundits, lobbyists, and other observers of the annual appropriations process are predicting that everything will be bundled into one or more catch-all, or "omnibus" appropriations bills after the November elections). Nevertheless, several subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee did their part this week, right before Congress took off for the Independence Day recess.

This week's "markups" in these panels included FY 2011 appropriations for (i) Agriculture, (ii) Legislative Branch, (iii) State and Foreign Operations, (iv) Commerce, Justice and Science, and (v) Transportation and HUD.

Much can change between now and final enactment of the FY 2011 appropriations, especially in the absence of a SAFETEA-LU transportation reauthorization. However, the House "T-HUD" appropriations draft at least gives an indication of how transit and related programs may fare next year.

Overall, the House panel calls for a 5.4 percent increase in transit spending over this year's levels. That's an interesting figure, given President Obama's call for a "freeze" in domestic discretionary spending.

Here's how the House draft bill addresses aspects of the federal transportation program....

Within the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) programs, the draft House bill would increase formula grant programs (known to most FTA grantees by their authorizing statutes as Sections 5307, 5310, 5311, 5316 [JARC] and 5317 [New Freedom]), together with funds for fixed guideway modernization and buses and bus facilities by 7.4 percent, to a total of nearly $9.0 billion. FTA's administrative and staff budget would increase $32 million over this year's amount; the Washington (DC) Metrorail system would receive another infusion of $150.0 million and FTA major capital funding for "new starts and small starts" (all of which are rail and fixed guideway projects) would remain at this year's level of $2.0 billion.

The House bill would provide $20 million to the Secretary of Transportation's office for "Livable Communities" investments. The Secretary's office would receive $400 million for more rounds of "TIGER" grants.

Within the rail program, the House bill would provide $1.4 billion for high-speed rail projects, and would provide nearly $1.8 billion to Amtrak for operating, capital and debt service expenses.

It's far to early in the process for anyone to be taking these figures to the bank, but if you want to read more, be sure to visit the House Appropriations Committee's website.

Ten More Days to Prepare those TIGER II Pre-Applications

2010-07-01T20:17:00.003-04:00

Quick update: If you're interested in applying for the Dept of Transportation's "TIGER II" discretionary grants, you may be relieved to know that the deadline for submitting this program's required "pre-applications" has been extended, to July 26, 2010. The deadline for final applications remains August 23, 2010.

This competition is one of the recent flurry of grants and notices related to the DOT-HUD-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities and their commitment to promote livable communities. We recently summarized this effort both here and in the NRC's Express Stop blog. Details on the TIGER II program, including notices, FAQs, and more, can be found on the DOT's website at www.dot.gov/recovery/ost/TIGERII.

"Livability Money" soon to hit the streets?

2010-06-25T15:50:00.002-04:00

All of a sudden, the offices at Dept of Transportation (DOT), Dept of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - the three members of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities - have started announcing funding opportunities and other initiatives in support of the federal agenda to support more livable communities.

If you'd like to read some details that seek to decode this latest flurry of activity, check out The Express Stop blog of my NRC staff colleague, Sheryl Gross-Glaser. She's got the answers. And if you're looking for money, act fast! There's a 30-day window for getting mandatory pre-applications submitted, and the clock is ticking. Interested applicants might want to dial in to a June 30 webinar on the topic hosted by our colleagues at PolicyLink.

As if the funds aren't exciting enough, the Federal Highway Administration and HUD just announced contracting flexibility (determined on case-by-case bases) to improve jointly-financed projects, effective right away, all in support of the federal government's livability principles, which are turning out to be a critical set of guideposts for all sorts of federal decision-making these days.

Looking for more information on this livability stuff? Check out the Livability Bookshelf on our National Resource Center website.

On TANF & Transportation

2010-06-16T22:56:00.002-04:00

A product of the 1996 "welfare reform," the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program has been around for more than a decade. Transportation plays a key role in this program's success, and TANF is an important financial partner in public transportation, too. Given the current state of states' budgets, and the current state of the national economy, with persistent high rates of unemployment, it's important to give TANF a fresh look.

First a bit of the basics. TANF has an annual appropriation of $16.5 billion, not including a significant expansion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In the federal budget, TANF is mandatory spending, similar to Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps, and other so-called "entitlement" programs. The federal agency administering TANF is the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Dept of Health and Human Services. According to ACF data, states currently are spending $400 million a year in their federal TANF funds on transportation, which they match with $44 million in state “maintenance-of-effort” funds for transportation services. ARRA created a one-time "TANF Emergency Fund" of $5 billion, which expires September 30, 2010.

When the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act eliminated the previous Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and replaced it with TANF, responsibility for establishing program rules, services and details were left largely in the hands of states. States receive TANF as a block grant, with allocations based primarily on their 1994 levels of AFDC spending. These amounts don't change, even when states' economies plummet and unemployment (and thus the degree of TANF demand) rises.

States often call their TANF programs by unique, state-specific, names, and set most of their own procedures for how TANF-related services are provided. States are not required to spend any of their TANF funds on transportation. But almost every state does, in some way or another, because the lack of transportation continues to be documented as one of the leading barriers to employment participation, especially among otherwise-unemployed single mothers (not surprisingly, the lack of child care continues to be the other leading barrier to employment participation among this segment of the "at-risk" population). States can provide transportation as part of the direct "assistance" they provide to TANF recipients (typically using vouchers, transit passes or related strategies), in which case TANF funds tend to follow the individual, are tracked closely for eligibility, and have to comply with the time limits and other person-specific requirements of TANF. This practice is especially prevalent at times like our current economy, when TANF-eligible populations are more numerous and demands on TANF resources are peaking. States also have the opportunity to provide TANF-related transportation as "non-assistance," meaning that they are helping to finance transportation networks that serve the needs of the TANF-eligible population, but not in ways that are directly delivered as benefits to individuals. For example, in the late 1990s, many states were using their TANF funds to match Federal Transit Administration "Job Access and Reverse Commute" grants to provide systems of transportation services addressing all low-income populations, not just the populations receiving direct TANF assistance.

The FTA/DOL Joblinks Employment Transportation Initiative, operated by the Community Transportation Association of America, has focused a lot of energy on TANF and created a host of TANF-related documents over its 12 years (and counting) of operation. This post is not meant to recap or replace that wealth of literature, but simply aims to point out a few reminders about TANF and transit programs.

The first reminder, as stated above, is that states have an abundance of flexibility and autonomy to create TANF-funded services in ways that suit their circumstances.

Second, TANF is one of the very few non-DOT grant programs for which federal agencies created guidance directing the relationship between TANF and FTA grants. Although it predates the current SAFETEA-LU authorization, there is a joint guidance document, officially issued by the Federal Transit Administration, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), and the Administration for Children and Families, that explains, from each of these agencies' perspectives, how their funds - JARC, TANF, and the old Welfare-to-Work grants - can be used together. At the headquarters level, the staff of FTA, ETA and ACF all have said this guidance remains in force. It can be found on the FTA website at http://www.fta.dot.gov/funding/grants/grants_financing_3715.html

Third, SAFETEA-LU makes statutory references to TANF in its authorization for ALL of the Federal Transit Administration's formula grant programs:

Urban transit....
49 USC 5307(e)(4):

"Use of certain funds. - The prohibitions on the use of funds
for matching requirements under section 403(a)(5)(C)(vii) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(5)(C)(vii)) shall
not apply to the remainder [ie, the non-FTA share of project costs]"

Elderly/Disabilities transit....
49 USC 5310(c)(3):

"Use of certain funds. - For purposes of paragraph (2)(B)
[defining the non-FTA share of project costs], the prohibitions
on the use of funds for matching requirements under section
403(a)(5)(C)(vii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
603(a)(5)(C)(vii)) shall not apply to Federal or State
funds to be used for transportation purposes."

Rural transit....
49 USC 5311(g)(4):

"Use of certain funds. - For purposes of paragraph (3)(B)
[defining the non-FTA share of project costs], the prohibitions
on the use of funds for matching requirements under section
403(a)(5)(C)(vii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
603(a)(5)(C)(vii)) shall not apply to Federal or State
funds to be used for transportation purposes."

Job Access and Reverse Commute.....
49 USC 5316(h)(4):

"Use of certain funds. - For purposes of paragraph (3)(B)
[defining the non-FTA share of project costs], the prohibitions
on the use of funds for matching requirements under section
403(a)(5)(C)(vii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
603(a)(5)(C)(vii)) shall not apply to Federal or State
funds to be used for transportation purposes."

New Freedom....
49 USC 5317(g)(4):

"Use of certain funds. - For purposes of paragraph (3)(B)
[defining the non-FTA share of project costs], the prohibitions
on the use of funds for matching requirements under section
403(a)(5)(C)(vii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
603(a)(5)(C)(vii)) shall not apply to Federal or State
funds to be used for transportation purposes."

The above language was inserted in each of those portions of authorizing legislation specifically because Congress did not want there to be an impediment in the use of TANF funds (which is the reference to Section 403 of the Social Security Act) with regard to coordination with FTA funds. This is notable, in that it is the only statutory requirement of "coordination" that imposes a requirement on non-DOT programs; the language specifically addresses TANF as a partner in all FTA grants.

Public Health & Transportation: There's a Connection

2010-06-14T16:10:00.004-04:00

[Third in my occasional series of postings about how health reform legislation is changing the landscape for coordinated public and human services transportation.]

Title IV of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) addresses public health and disease prevention. Although the legislation's expansion of Medicaid will have a larger dollar impact on transit services, this is the one section of the "health reform" legislation that specifies a role for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation in helping the federal government create a healthier America.

The Secretary of Transportation already has gone on record as a champion of his department’s role in helping promote healthier communities. He has said so in many speeches, in his “FastLane” blog (take particular note of his posts on May 11, April 20 and April 6, 2010) and in other venues. He is a champion of this cause, but he is not alone in seeing that transportation investments and partnerships can do much to help achieve healthy outcomes in terms of physical fitness, obesity prevention, access to preventive health services, health improvements resulting from better access to fresh and nutritious food, and decreased incidence of chronic health conditions as a result of transportation-related environmental improvements in our air, soil and water.

Drawing on decades of research results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies, Title IV of PPACA addresses strategies to create healthier communities and improve public health outcomes.

The Secretary of Transportation is named to a 12-member council, chaired by the Surgeon General, that is to provide coordination and leadership to support prevention, wellness and health promotion and to help create and support the infrastructure that results in a healthier America. On June 10, 2010, Pres. Obama signed an executive order that officially brought this National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council into existence.

This council is charged with creating a National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy, along with other reports and recommendations for improving the overall health status of Americans and their public health.

Prevention & Health: Putting Money on the Table

Reports and strategies, such as those to be pursued by this council, are important, but policy and federal investment are at least as important. Under PPACA, there is a $15 billion program of mandatory spending to provide a national investment in prevention, wellness and health promotion.

This prevention and wellness program is expected to build on a $640 million “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” program established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or the "stimulus bill"). In that program, numerous projects have been launched by states and community-based organizations in efforts to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, decrease rates of childhood and adult obesity, and decrease smoking prevalence. As one illustration of this, the “active living” program established at Section 4201 of PPACA repeatedly cites “infrastructure improvements” as eligible uses of its appropriated funds, and the statute clearly includes transportation among that infrastructure.

Studies published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others have shown that investments in public transportation correlate with positive health outcomes, and directly relate to this program’s goals of increased physical activity, reduced obesity, and improved access to nutrition. Under the ARRA program, administered by CDC, numerous projects that support active living and community design have been launched, including the inclusion of health outcomes in the transportation planning processes undertaken statewide in North Carolina and Rhode Island, to name but two examples.

This facet of emphasis on wellness and community health promotion is new under PPACA. It is an opportunity for the Department of Transportation to work with its partners to show that transportation activities, ranging from support of bicycle and pedestrian projects, to the support of enhanced public transit services, to the multidisciplinary planning and delivery of services envisioned under the DOT-HUD-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities, all play central roles in promoting and supporting a healthy America.

The Dept. of Transportation has acknowledged its role in this dimension of PPACA and health outcomes in its draft Strategic Plan. While many of the programmatic results from that plan are awaiting legislative authorizations, the DOT and its partners in the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (most of whom also are members of the newly established National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council) should begin discussing and coordinating likely federal strategies that promote transportation’s role in disease prevention and health promotion. This opportunity must not be wasted as a channel through which DOT, its federal partners and its non-governmental partners are able to promote outreach efforts, community partnerships, federally funded innovation, and other steps that produce demonstrable improvements in public health and nutrition access and outcomes.

Same Goal, Different Approaches?

2010-06-11T16:17:00.002-04:00

For starters, writing about introduced legislation is a dubious prospect, since the vast majority of bills that are introduced in Congress go absolutely nowhere. However, the Washington Post had an article in its June 11 edition about transit operating assistance, which is too important an issue not to discuss.

As the Community Transportation Association, the Amalgamated Transit Union, Transportation for America, and others have repeatedly observed, public transit systems across the country are suffering for a lack of operating revenues, since all their traditional sources of non-federal funds - state/local fuel taxes, local property taxes, state income taxes, state/local sales taxes - are at very low levels, with no real signs of recovery on the near horizon.

Through rallies and other actions, members of Congress have become aware of the transit pain that so many communities are experiencing. Two divergent legislative paths have emerged:

Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) introduced a bill, H.R. 2746, which would allow Section 5307 federal transit grants to urbanized areas with more than 200,000 population be able to use some of these funds to help cover their operating costs (under current law, these "large-urban" areas' Section 5307 funds can only be used for capital assistance, with a few narrow exceptions). To date, this legislation has picked up 131 co-sponsors in the House; at a time when almost everything in the House of Representatives splits along party lines, it should be noted that there are 7 Republican co-sponsors of Rep. Carnahan's bill. In the Senate, very similar legislation (S. 3189) was introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

The other legislative strategy is found in legislation introduced last month in the Senate (S. 3412) by Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and in the House (H.R. 5418) by Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.). The Dodd-McMahon legislation would authorize a one-time supplemental appropriation of $2.0 billion, which would be distributed using existing formulas to all Section 5307 and Section 5311 grantees.

The problem these bills would address is very real, and very current, as the reports on transit service cuts and fare increases continue to stream in, and as cities' transit agencies continue to struggle with balancing their budgets in the current economy. So far, no hearings or other Congressional action on either the Carnahan-Brown or Dodd-McMahon bills has taken place or been scheduled, nor does any substantive action appear to be likely in the near future. Nonetheless, transit interests from New York to Los Angeles, to everyplace in between, have been joining DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff in saying that something needs to be done to help transit in urban America.

FMAP - the most important four letters in Medicaid

2010-06-02T11:38:00.002-04:00

[This is second in my occasional series of postings about how health reform legislation is changing the landscape for coordinated public and human services transportation.]

In the Medicaid realm, arguably the most important concept is the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, or FMAP. This number represents the portion of eligible costs that the federal government will reimburse to states under Medicaid for the medical services they provide. Every state gets a unique FMAP, recalculated annually, that is based on each state's per capita income relative to the nation's average per capita income. In essence, the lower a state's per capita income, the higher its FMAP. Under Medicaid law, no state can have an FMAP below 50 percent, nor higher than 83 percent. However, states' FMAP rates all were boosted by approximately 6 to 9 percentage points (the amounts varied by formula and other factors) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). There also is an "enhanced FMAP" rate calculated for each state under an administrative formula; this rate primarily is used to determine federal payments to states for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The fact that every state has a different FMAP, and that every state's FMAP is subject to change every year, can be one of the challenging factors when trying to link states' Medicaid activities with public transportation or other Medicaid-related services. Under the just-enacted health reforms, different aspects of Medicaid-covered services and programs can have different FMAP rates, which could become an even greater challenge, although the generally increased federal funding should make these partnerships and programs possible.

The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the US Dept of Health and Human Services determines FMAP rates each year, which are published in the Federal Register, posted on the ASPE website, and are available in other places, as well.

For states, FMAP rates are huge concern. As the National Association of State Budget Officers, National Governors Association, and National Conference of State Legislatures report every year, Medicaid is one of the top three expense items in every state's budget (the other two are corrections and education). Of these, Medicaid is unique in that the federal government establishes the eligible population to be served and the scope of medical assistance to be provided to this population, and then leaves it up to each state to cover as much as 50 percent of costs, regardless of the state's ability to generate the needed funds.

Therefore, when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, or "health reform") became law, numerous FMAP provisions were made as an effort to soften the blow to states' budgets. Two of these instances have a direct bearing on transportation:

The mandatory expansion of Medicaid to all persons at or below 133 percent of poverty is financed at an FMAP of 100 percent in 2014 (when that requirement takes effect), scaling down to 90 percent federal share by 2020.
Elsewhere in PPACA, every state can use specified higher FMAP rates when providing certain home- and community-based long-term care services for persons with disabilities.

On Extenders and Expirations

2010-06-01T15:35:00.002-04:00

Public and community transit systems may have to get by with $500 million less in operating revenue next year.

The "tax extenders" bill (see the May 20 Capitol Clips posting for relevant details) continues to be a moving target for a number of tax and spending issues affecting public and community transportation. As passed by the House on the eve of its Memorial Day recess, the latest version of this bill no longer contains the continuation of increased federal Medicaid spending that was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or the "stimulus bill"). The bill's COBRA extension also was removed before the final vote, but most other provisions - including the TANF emergency fund extension - remained in place.

So, at this point in time - unless some action takes place otherwise - two key elements for transportation under ARRA are expiring on December 31, 2010:

1. Federal spending under Medicaid, increased to every state under ARRA, will revert to pre-ARRA Medicaid matching rates. This represents a loss of $24 billion in otherwise-anticipated Medicaid funding to states, just at a time when they are trying to ramp up for Medicaid expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, or the "health reform bill")

2. The amount of income that employees can use, tax-free, for transit and vanpools is scheduled to drop from $230 a month to somewhere in the vicinity of $120 per month. Under ARRA, the tax-free transit benefit has been boosted to parity with the amount allowed as a tax-free parking benefit, but that ARRA provision expires December 31, 2010, and there has not yet been any legislation introduced that would continue this level. At the ARRA levels, $560 million a year is being pumped into public transit systems' coffers as a result of this tax-free benefit; Internal Revenue Service and Congressional estimates all indicate that transit receipts through this benefit are likely to fall by more than half next year, unless there is a change in statute.

Given historical data on Medicaid spending through public transit, these two items alone suggest that the nation's public and community transit services are being slated for a revenue loss of more than $500 million in calendar year 2011.

"Tax Extenders" Bill has stuff for transit, human services, too

2010-05-20T11:39:00.002-04:00

House and Senate leaders have been preparing a must-pass bill to extend various expiring tax provisions. They're hoping to get this "extenders" bill passed by both chambers of Congress and onto Pres. Obama's desk in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

As drafted, this legislation will have provisions affecting a fair number of public and community transportation providers, including:

A six-month extension of the temporary Medicaid "FMAP" increases (i.e., the percentage of medical assistance that the federal government will reimburse to states' Medicaid programs) that were put into place in last year's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (this is estimated to channel another $24 billion of federal funds into Medicaid);
A one-year extension of the "emergency contingency fund" created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) as an add-on to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program , which will direct an additional $2.5 billion to states' TANF activities;
A one-year renewal of the special summer youth employment program created under ARRA, which will provide $1.0 billion to local workforce investment boards as a supplement to all their other youth employment activities this summer;
One-year extensions of New Markets Tax Credits, Empowerment Zones, and Renewal Communities, which are tax-favored opportunities to support reinvestment and revitalization of economically distressed communities (collectively, these extensions are estimated to provide for $1.4 billion in tax-favored community revitalization);
An additional allocation of $25 in lending authority for Recovery Zone Bonds, which were created under ARRA as a mechanism to provide quick, financially secure investments in local infrastructure projects; and
A two-year extension (and some tweaking) of the ARRA-created Build America Bonds program for financing infrastructure projects carried out by state and local governments, which should leverage an additional $97 billion between now and 2012.

These are not the extenders bill's highest profile features, although the Medicaid FMAP increase is its second-highest expense (top of the chart is the bill's proposed extension of federal unemployment benefits eligibility).

As drafted, the extenders bill does not address the treatment of transit benefits under Internal Revenue Code Section 132(f). Under ARRA, up to $230 per month of individuals' employer-provided fringe benefits for transit passes, vanpools, etc., are tax-free. This has pumped more than $1.1 billion into public transit since the enactment of ARRA. Unless Congress changes the tax code, the allowed value of tax-free transit drops to the pre-ARRA level of $115 per month on January 1, 2011, which will cut this revenue stream for transit in half. It's possible that advocates for this transit and vanpool benefit are carrying out other strategies in advance of the year's end dropoff.

Medicaid Expansion Under PPACA

2010-05-18T14:38:00.002-04:00

[This is the first in an occasional series of postings about how health reform legislation is changing the landscape for coordinated public and human services transportation.]

President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law on March 23, 2010. With some further amendments as a result of the Health Care and Higher Education Reconciliation Act, which Pres. Obama signed into law on March 30, 2010, this is the legislation that the country has been calling "Health Care Reform."

Many aspects of PPACA affect the provision of transportation, but here's the most significant:

Section 2001 of PPACA establishes a new category of Medicaid eligibility. All persons with income at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty line who are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid or Medicare are entitled to participation in Medicaid. This will be a major shift for those states in which Medicaid coverage currently is provided only to persons with much lower income thresholds, in some cases as low as 17 or 24 percent of poverty. States are required to serve this expanded population on January 1, 2014, although they were allowed to begin serving this population as early as April 1, 2010. In fact, Connecticut and the District of Columbia already have made these changes, having moved thousands of their residents off non-federal coverage into their Medicaid programs.

People who fit this category of Medicaid eligibility (i.e., incomes up to 133 percent of poverty and not otherwise eligible for Medicaid or Medicare) are to be enrolled in “benchmark” or “benchmark equivalent” programs administered by state Medicaid agencies. “Benchmark” plans were first authorized by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) issued implementing regulations on April 30, 2010.

Two facts bear noting: one is that PPACA requires enrollment in benchmark plans, regardless of whether a state’s Medicaid agency was planning to provide benchmark-style coverage to any segments of its Medicaid population, and the second fact is that CMS regulations specifically require the provision of non-emergency transportation to all Medicaid enrollees, regardless of whether they are enrolled in a benchmark-style program of health coverage.

Estimates are that this expansion will add 20 million or more people to the country’s Medicaid rolls, in addition to the 40 million individuals currently enrolled in Medicaid programs. States have been concerned about the costs they would have to bear under this expansion. In response, PPACA establishes a special Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rate for this category of Medicaid coverage. In calendar years 2014 through 2016, the FMAP for this population is 100 percent; it scales downward in 2017 through 2019, and from January 1, 2020, onward, the FMAP for this category of Medicaid eligibility is 90 percent. In contrast, for enrollees traditionally enrolled in Medicaid, the FMAP varies by state, ranging from as low as 50 percent to no more than 83 percent (although all states had their FMAP increased temporarily under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).

At some point, CMS will be issuing regulations or other guidelines for this Medicaid expansion. However, since it does not become a requirement for states until 2014, they are likely to wait a bit, as there are numerous other Medicaid deadlines within PPACA that are much more urgent. For a fairly complete listing of PPACA implementation deadlines and other implementation milestones in the law, visit the Kaiser Family Foundation website.

Transit Money for Indian Country

2010-05-14T09:24:00.003-04:00

Every so often, I tell friends or family that one of the things we do is provide technical assistance that promotes better transit for people on Indian reservations and in tribal communities across the country. This fascinates them, and then they realize that yes, indeed, there are a lot of critical mobility needs among our country's first inhabitants.

Under the current SAFETEA-LU legislation, there is a small program of competitive grants to help tribes (by which the federal government also includes Alaska Native villages, and other groups, governments and communities officially recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA]) plan, capitalize and operate public transit programs to serve their residents. It's one of the most competitive programs within the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) budget.

Having said that, this is the announcement that tribal grant application writers had better fire up their computers right now, because FTA published an announcement on May 13 that this year's funding is now available for application.

The program is the Section 5311(c) Tribal Transit Program. Only BIA-recognized entities are eligible applicants. The federal share is 100 percent of project costs. There is a total of $15.1 million available for grants. Applications are due June 28, 2010. Because Section 5311(c) is a subset of the FTA program of transit grants for rural areas, BIA-recognized entities within urbanized areas (e.g., some tribal communities within certain portions of Arizona, New Mexico, California and Washington) are not eligible to apply for these particular grants.

The Section 5311(c) program is not the only avenue for funding transit projects in Indian Country. Tribes and tribal entities are eligible subrecipients under all of FTA's formula grant programs, including Section 5311 rural transit grants and Section 5307 urban transit grants, although these grants require tribes to participate in state- or metropolitan transit programs in ways that don't always mesh with the U.S. Government's stated policy of "government-to-government" relations with tribal nations. In addition, funds allocated to tribes through the Indian Reservation Roads program are allowed to be spent on planning, capital purchases and even operations of tribal transit programs, if those are identified as priorities in tribal transportation planning documents.

More information, including a history of past funding awards for the Section 5311(c) program, can be found on the FTA web site.

Making the Year Complete

2010-05-13T14:20:00.002-04:00

It may seem pro forma, but it's necessary. On May 13, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published a notice apportioning the entirety of its FY 2010 funds. Because of the previous short-term extensions of SAFETEA-LU, FTA grantees had only partial access to these funds until now.

The notice, and other information concerning FTA's apportionments and allocations, can be found on the FTA web site.

New Federal Rule Addresses Medicaid Transportation

2010-04-30T15:00:00.003-04:00

The federal-state Medicaid program continues to be the largest single purchaser of public transportation services in the country. When provisions of the health reform legislation begin to kick in, Medicaid is slated to become an even larger purchaser of public transit services. Meanwhile, you may recall that there has been some controversy in the past few years, as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees Medicaid, made efforts to implement some significant provisions under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA).

So, it's important to take note of a notice published in the April 30, 2010, Federal Register, in which CMS announces its final rules concerning "State Flexibility for Medicaid Benefits Packages." This rule implements a language in the DRA that gives states the option to establish Medicaid services that are "benchmarked" to other forms of insurance, such as the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, state employees' health coverage, etc.

State Medicaid agencies will be reading this rule in detail from beginning to end. For transportation providers, the most important thing is the new regulation at 42 CFR Section 440.390, which reads "If a benchmark or benchmark-equivalent plan does not include transportation to and from medically necessary covered Medicaid services, the State must nevertheless assure that emergency and non-emergency transportation is covered for beneficiaries enrolled in the benchmark or benchmark-equivalent plan, as required under Section 431.53 of this chapter."

In other words, states continue to be responsible, by CMS regulation, for assuring non-emergency medical transportation for all their Medicaid beneficiaries, regardless of whether those people are in a benchmark plan or are served by "traditional" Medicaid.

This rule concerning "benchmark" plans in Medicaid takes effect July 1, 2010. States' requirement to assure non-emergency medical transportation is nothing new; that has been in place for many years, first as a result of federal court cases, and then as a matter of CMS regulation.

Now that medical transportation providers may be feeling some level of justified comfort that their services are not going to be ended (that was a very real fear in response to CMS' initial proposals on this rule), there are some points of this latest rulemaking that bear careful consideration.

1. "Benchmark" plans are an option that is available to states. There is no requirement that states adopt this optional approach to elements of their Medicaid programs. However, CMS estimates that 90 percent of states will have some form of benchmark programs in place within a year or two. Given the nature and scope of the newest federal health legislation, that number is probably too low, and it's much more likely that nearly every state will have some form of benchmark-like coverage in their Medicaid programs in the near future. Therefore, anyone who's trying to set up systems for the future implementation of Medicaid should read more of today's rule, and see how CMS is beginning to instruct states in their relations with insurance companies, managed care organizations, and other intermediaries.

2. The rule on benchmark plans has some reminders that CMS has an option by which states can provide Medicaid transportation through a brokered program (defined by regulation at 42 CFR Section 440.170(a)(4), in which case these transportation expenses can be covered as "medical services" (and thus reimbursed by CMS at the state's Federal Medical Assistance Percentage rate, instead of the fixed 50 percent reimbursement for Medicaid program administrative costs) even if certain requirements for medical services (such as patient freedom of choice) are not part of the "brokerage." As with the benchmark program, it is very important to remember that such Medicaid transportation brokerages are an option available to states; they are not required.

3. For the first time that I've ever noticed, the benchmark rule has a requirement for public participation in Medicaid planning. It's a narrow window, and simply requires states to solicit public comment if they are preparing a state Medicaid plan amendment in pursuit of creating a benchmark program. Maybe there's always been a requirement for public input; if so, it may be something to be more aggressively publicized.

4. In case people hadn't been following this trend, in both the previous and current presidential administrations, CMS is having options and features of Medicaid being addressed by states through Medicaid plan amendments, and not through waiver requests. Although Medicaid planning is nothing at all like transportation planning, the fact that more process-driven approaches are being dictated by the federal government may give more opportunities for meaningful involvement by stakeholders as states pursue their Medicaid strategies.

5. And for those people who follow federal interagency coordination policies, there is this verbiage, as it appears in the CMS rulemaking notice: "We do not believe that Executive Order 13330, which relates to the coordination of transportation among Federal agencies, is relevant to this rule."

More Money for Transit Sustainability Projects

2010-04-14T10:09:00.003-04:00

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is seeking applicants for its newest round of Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) and Clean Fuel grants. There's even a little bit of additional money available for applications for Section 5309 bus and bus facility grants that meet certain FTA priorities.

Clean Fuels (Section 5308) and Section 5309 applications are due June 14, 2010. FTA has combined some funding in these accounts for a total of $81.2 million in available funding.

TIGGER applications are due August 11, 2010. There's a total of $75 million available for these grants, with MINIMUM project costs of $1 million per project, and a maximum of $25 million per project.

In all these, applicants must speak directly to three federal priorities: (a) breaking dependence on oil, (b) producing more energy at home, and (c) promoting energy efficiency. FTA wants to see high-value, technologically innovative, projects funded under TIGGER, with more mundane (that's my word, not FTA's) projects to be funded under Clean Fuels/bus & bus facilities. These FTA funds can cover up to 90 percent of project costs under these grants.

The only eligible applicants are public transit agencies (defined as units of state or local govt that are engaged in providing public transit services) and state departments of transportation. Nonprofit transit entities are not eligible to apply (but could benefit from states' or others' applications); it would appear that public agencies not engaged in carrying out transit probably can't apply for these funds, either.

This information appears in the April 13, 2010, Federal Register. Additional information is on FTA web site, at www.fta.dot.gov/tigger.

One Extension Done, Others Still in Play

2010-03-19T07:49:00.002-04:00

Earlier this week, Pres. Obama signed HR 2847, the "HIRE Act," into law. This legislation extends SAFETEA-LU highway and transit authorizations through December 31, 2010, making sure that about $20 billion is made available to cover existing appropriations (and anticipated appropriations for the first quarter of FY 2011). It also continues the increased federal share of Medicaid costs that were first established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Back payment to US DOT employees affected by last month's short-term furlough during the lapse in authorizations remain up in the air. The House has passed a couple of measures to address this question, but Senate action has not yet occurred. The House attached the latest such back pay provision to HR 4851, the "Continuing Extensions Act," which otherwise addresses lapsing unemployment, COBRA and other provisions.

Returning to the HIRE Act, there was a bit of a conniption over how to treat the FHWA accounts that had been used to fund some high-dollar highway projects under SAFETEA-LU. Basically, the question was whether these accounts still need extension, even after those Congressionally designated projects had been funded. But in the urgent need to do something, that extension occurred.... Now, Congress is trying to set things straight, having attached a bit of correcting language to another bill, HR 4853, the FAA Extension Act (yes, the federal aviation program also has expired and needs reauthorization), which it passed and sent on to the Senate this week.

"Jobs" bills -- a playcard

2010-03-11T18:18:00.002-05:00

Turn to just about any news media this month, and you'll see or hear something about job creation legislation being passed or debated in Congress. There are a number of bills in play, all of which have something or another to do with transportation and the programs that depend upon transportation. Here's the mid-March rundown:

HR 2847, Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

This bill has experienced a long and convulsive path through the Capitol. In its current form, House and Senate are using it as one of their job creation measures. As far as providers or stakeholders of public transportation are concerned, the leading feature of this bill is that it calls for extending current SAFETEA-LU authorizations through December 31, 2010. An earlier House-passed version of this bill included additional money, on top of SAFETEA-LU, for transit, as well as supplemental grants for job training, and an extension of the increased federal share of Medicaid costs, but all those provisions - other than the SAFETEA-LU extension - seem to have been jettisoned by the bills passed by the Senate on February 24, and by the House on March 4. At this point, the House and Senate legislation is not too divergent; it's possible that they can reach agreement on this bill (which mainly has $150 billion or so in tax provisions that are hoped to stimulate employment) and send it to President Obama for signature.

HR 4213, Tax Extenders Act of 2009

Every year, there are a number of provisions and features in the Internal Revenue Code that expire unless extended. This becomes a convenient, "must-pass" vehicle for other morsels of legislation. This year's Tax Extenders bill passed the House in December as a "clean" bill (ie, just extending expiring tax stuff, with nothing else attached). This week - on March 10 - the Senate passed its version of an extenders bill that included $140 billion of other stuff, including provisions that would extend the increased federal share of Medicaid (enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) for another year.

HR 4691, Temporary Extension Act of 2010

As previously reported here and elsewhere, the main transportation feature of this bill was the short-term extension of SAFETEA-LU authorizations through March 28, 2010.

HR 4812, Local Jobs for America Act

This bill was just introduced yesterday by Congressman George Miller (D-Calif), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. The main feature, as touted by Congressman Miller's press release, is the authorization of $100 billion to help state governments ($25 billion) and local governments ($75 billion) carry out infrastructure projects, keep education systems open, pay salaries of firefighters and other essential personnel, et al. Although it speaks directly to the expressed needs of state and local governments, they shouldn't run out and spend that money right away; it's far too soon to say whether this bill, or its provisions, will advance through the legislative process.

DOT: Back in Business, at least for a few weeks

2010-03-03T15:45:00.002-05:00

Late last night (March 2), President Obama signed the "Temporary Extension Act of 2010" into law. Among other things, this legislation extends the SAFETEA-LU highway and transit authorizations to a new deadline of March 28, 2010.

As was widely reported among the DC news media, and in the transportation press, there was a bit of an issue, in that the Senate did not pass this extension bill before the February 28 expiration of the last SAFETEA-LU extension. As a result, there were a couple of days in which many DOT employees were on a furlough, work on some federally involved transportation projects was suspended, and there was a lot of blogging and finger-pointing about this delay.

But once TEA-2010 was signed into law, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood was on hand at his agency's headquarters, welcoming the employees back to work.

Note, though, that this latest transportation extension is only for a few more weeks. It's too soon to tell what may happen later this month. In the meantime, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, convened a hearing today (Mar. 3) at which she vowed to have her committee do its part on a SAFETEA-LU renewal -- not another extension -- before the year is up.

Extensions remain out of sync

2010-02-25T18:42:00.002-05:00

In the bigger picture, it's not a huge issue. But if you're a state DOT or a transit agency, there's a dire need to know what's up with the extension of SAFETEA-LU, the current highway and transit authorization.

The Senate's just-passed job-creation legislation would extend these programs through December 31, 2010.

It's not clear what the House is going to do with this latest bill from the Senate. Therefore, the House just passed a measure that would provide short-term extensions for a number of things, including federal payments for unemployment benefits, Medicare payments for doctors, enhanced COBRA benefits, and a short-term extension of SAFETEA-LU. In this latest House bill, the highway and transit programs' authorizations would go through March 28, 2010.

In brief, though, there are pockets of resistance to the Senate bill among House members, and there are pockets of resistance to this House bill among Senate members.

The clock runs out on the current transportation bill in less than a week. Inevitably, Congress and the White House will come to terms on another extension, but there will be some moments of continued dispute and uncertainty until the 11th hour.

Does White House Health Care Bill Affect Transit?

2010-02-24T09:05:00.002-05:00

After the nation witnessed Congressional action on health reform reach near-paralysis in the Senate, President Obama announced a White House summit on health reform for February 25, and issued what was touted as his administration's own legislative proposal for health reform.

In contrast to the Clinton-era health reform efforts, Mr Obama's proposal does not exist in detailed legislative language. Instead, he and his team have published many pages of bullet-pointed priorities on the White House web site.

There are many important and complex issues being considered in the health reform discussion. Most of these affect individuals, employers, and - of course - the medical and insurance industries.

Thus far, the main thing in the health care debate that would affect public and community transportation providers is an expansion of who's eligible for coverage under the federal-state Medicaid program. Both the House- and Senate-passed health reform bills would guarantee Medicaid benefits for a lot more people than the 40+ million low-income people currently covered. The President recommends this expansion, as well, and would have the federal government underwrite the full cost for this expansion in the first few years of enacted reform. After that, there would be a phase-down period of a few years, during which states would be expected to pick up a gradually increasing share of these increased Medicaid costs.

The reason this Medicaid issue is important to transit is two-fold. For one, Medicaid payments continue to be the largest single federal investment in public transit operating costs, as Medicaid requires states to assure access - and transportation - to non-emergency medical services. Although proposed Medicaid expansions are likely to bring in young adults and low-income working families, as opposed to the more-traditional populations of non-working, elderly and otherwise disadvantaged persons long covered under this program, there are bound to be some increased riders - and payments - for transportation services under this expansion.

From the transportation industry's perspective, that's the good news in proposed Medicaid expansion. The second point of concern, though, is that there eventually would come a time when states have to pick up more of the costs of the expansion. However, all budgetary evidence shows that the price tag for this Medicaid increase will hit states' coffers several years before they can expect to begin enjoying the fruits of any economic recovery, even under the rosiest scenarios currently at play. Drains on state budgets put a lot of transportation needs at risk, including social services, workforce development, and even the ability of states to assist with the capital and operating costs of public transit.

Senate "jobs" bill would extend transit programs

2010-02-23T17:23:00.002-05:00

The political pundits and news media are writing at length about yesterday's cloture vote in the Senate concerning its version of a job-creating measure, currently called the HIRE Act

The $15 billion measure the Senate is expected to pass on February 24 primarily contains payroll and business tax breaks, intended to stimulate employment. Nothing there of direct connection to public transit or human services.

What is significant for transit interests in this bill is an extension of SAFETEA-LU, the current authorizing legislation, through December 31, 2010. According to reports, at least one of the votes for cloture, from Sen. George Voinovich [R-Ohio] was conditioned on a verbal commitment for the Senate to take up the overdue rewrite of SAFETEA-LU before the year is over.

In its current form, this Senate bill doesn't have any additional funding for transit, nor any of the other spending provisions found in the corresponding House legislation. The House bill, known as the "Jobs for Main Street Act," which was passed in December 2009, has provisions similar to those now arriving on the Senate floor, including the SAFETEA-LU extension, but also had approximately $150 billion in various spending programs, including $8.4 billion in supplemental transit grants, $1.2 billion in supplemental job training grants, and a continuation of the increased federal share of Medicaid costs that was a feature of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

No one's to be talking yet about what happens when House and Senate leaders seek to reconcile their two bills. First, it seems the Senate needs to pass something.

Transit Funds -- the installment plan

2010-02-19T16:54:00.002-05:00

Right after the Presidents Day holiday, the Federal Transit Administration issued its notice allocating $5.4 billion in transit funds to states, cities and specific capital projects. Lots of numbers in this 100-page notice, but no surprises.

The main thing to note is that FTA was only able to allocate 5/12 of its FY 2010 appropriation. That's because SAFETEA-LU, the legislation authorizing these funds, was not extended through the full fiscal year. The current extension runs only to the end of this month.

Another SAFETEA-LU extension is likely to be included in any "jobs bills" that the Senate considers (the House version of a jobs bill extends SAFETEA-LU authorizations through the end of the current fiscal year), but that action awaits debate on the Senate floor next week. Assuming a remainder-of-year extension is enacted, FTA will probably then issue another apportionments notice, and is likely then to issue notices inviting applications for a few of its smaller competitive grant programs, such as transit in parks and tribal transit.

If you want to see precisely how much money is allocated to each recipient of formula-based transit grants, and how much is allocated to all the earmarked capital bus, bus facility, and "new starts" fixed-guideway systems, read the full notice on the FTA web site (NOTE: if reading the Federal Register notice, read the PDF file, not the "text" file, as the latter does not contain any of the funding tables).

TIGER Grants Announced with a Roar

2010-02-17T13:54:00.002-05:00

On the one-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or the "stimulus" bill), DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced the 51 winners of its $1.5 billion in ARRA-backed TIGER grants today (Feb. 17). Don't go looking in the Federal Register for this news....the announcement was the Secretary's "Fast Lane" blog, along with a PDF listing of the winners' profiles.

In keeping with ARRA, all the grants are for transportation capital projects, with an emphasis on construction and refurbishment of infrastructure. It's clear from the list of winners that preferred projects in this program were multimodal in nature. As you can see from the list of projects, another clear aspect under TIGER was the significant use of non-federal funds in these projects. Less clear is where the sponsoring state and local governments will be able to find their share of project costs, given the current state of public finance.

Given the emphasis on multimodality, it's hard, and a bit inappropriate, to classify specific TIGER projects as being "transit" or "rail" or "highway" in nature. For example, even the $10.0 million awarded to the South Dakota DOT for a highway project makes reference to improved access for local tribal transit services. However, 21 of the projects, accounting for $768 million of the awarded funds, have some kind of transit aspect. These include streetcar/light rail projects in Detroit, New Orleans, Dallas, Tucson and Portland Ore., and bus rapid transit projects in Las Vegas and Denver. Numerous facilities, ranging from $83 million in New York City to $8 million in Ames, IA, are included in the mix.

For human services accessibility, universal design, and complete streets, some champion projects were named in places as diverse as Dubuque, Kansas City and Seattle. Showing the extent of multimodal thinking, the award to Tulsa would help create prospective transit-oriented development, well in advance of the usual rail or BRT catalysts for TOD. The largest-scale bus-oriented award - $58.8 million - is for "priority bus transit" projects in the Washington DC area.

Aside from the TIGER awards to DC, New York, and Tucson, other large-scale TIGER awards included $100.0 million for the "CREATE" rail improvements in Chicago, $105 million for rail freight projects in Memphis and Birmingham, and $55.5 million in commuter rail expansion beyond Fitchburg, Mass.

While the winners get the glory, and the money, LaHood and numerous other bloggers have noted that there were many, many projects, some with considerable merit, that were not funded under TIGER. As LaHood said in his announcement, "DOT received more than 1,400 applications seeking more than $60 billion in support" for these funds. With TIGER projects spanning the country from Maine to Alaska, every region got something in this tight competition. As some are beginning to note, there are some conspicuous absences in TIGER grants: No projects whatsoever in Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Utah, Delaware, New Hampshire, Nebraska, North Dakota or Idaho.

Less Need to Stay Up All Night Writing Proposals?

2010-02-04T09:39:00.003-05:00

If you were interested in the Federal Transit Administration's solicitation for livability projects (announced on Dec 8), here's a bit of relieving news....

The application deadline has been extended two days, to February 10, 2010.

This notice appears in the Feb 4 Federal Register; hopefully, too, on the FTA web site.

President's Budget Request Seeks New Dimensions to Transit Programs

2010-02-02T15:21:00.002-05:00

It's dangerous to ascribe too much meaning to the many details that accompany a presidential budget request. However, some items in President Obama's budget request for FY 2011 lay down some informative markers that may shape Congress' response and eventual actions.

This year's federal transportation budget is a greater than usual challenge, for three reasons. One is the lack of an authorization (SAFETEA-LU expired last year, and is being sustained through a series of short-term extensions). The second is an expressed desire from this Administration for maintaining the federal motor fuels tax (which has been the source of nearly all federal transit funding since the 1980s) at the current rate of 18.4 cents per gallon, which is where it's stood since 1991. The third budget challenge is the President's expressed desire to freeze most discretionary domestic spending at current levels.

Given those challenges, the President was able to send to Congress a budget request that seeks to maintain most transportation accounts at essentially the same amounts as this year: highways @ $41.1b, aviation @ $16.5b, rail (including Amtrak and high speed rail) @ $2.8b, and transit @ $10.8b. Money was squeezed out of this tight framework to suggest a new $4.0b program of "national infrastructure innovation and finance."

Within the President's recommendations for the transit program, there is no talk of coordination, or human services, or mobility management. There is a recommendation to create a $307m livable communities program by combining the existing Job Access/Reverse Commute, Alternatives Analysis, Statewide Transit Planning, and Metropolitan Transit Planning programs. There is a recommendation to combine the Section 5310 program and New Freedom transit grants into a single formula grant program. Small amounts of funding are requested to jump-start Administration initiatives in rail transit safety and continued work in using transit as a vehicle for greenhouse gas reduction. The Administration also recommends an additional $150m appropriation for the Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Under the President's request, formula grants for urban and rural public transit, and the amounts of funding available for buses, bus facilities, fixed guideway modernization and "new starts" major capital projects would continue more or less at their current levels, although the request is made that these grants be awarded on formula bases, or at the Administration's discretion, as opposed to the prevailing practice of Congressional earmarks.

Having thus made its request, the focus of action on the budget turns to Congress, where it will remain until appropriations are signed into law.

Hey Drivers, Don't Text!

2010-01-27T12:36:00.002-05:00

It's no secret that DOT Secretary Ray LaHood has been reminding drivers everywhere to put down those devices and drive safely. At last autumn's Distracted Driving Summit, he promised that the federal government would do its part to ensure that our roadways would be more safe from distracted drivers.

During that event, President Obama issued an executive order restricted texting and cell phone use by federal employees (and recommending federal contractors do likewise).

Over the subsequent months, Secretary LaHood marshalled the resources of the US DOT to create a website, www.distraction.gov, to promote distraction-free driving.

One of Mr LaHood's commitments was to take regulatory action to help stamp out distracted driving, which has taken place this week.

Specifically, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the arm of the DOT that regulates much truck and bus safety, published a guidance today (Jan 27) specifying that texting while driving a commercial motor vehicle is henceforth considered an unsafe practice that is in violation of federal regulation. This guidance takes effect immediately.

The FMCSA guidance affects all truck and bus operators used in INTERSTATE service, as defined at 49 CFR Part 390 (in this rule, "buses" are all passenger-carrying vehicles designed to seat 8 or more passengers, including the driver). Most local transit and human services transportation operations that do not cross state lines are not covered by this particular rule, although an increasing number of state laws restrict texting and cell phone use by drivers of many or all vehicles.

In addition to the Secretary's announcement of this policy guidance, there has been a good deal of media attention to the topic of distracted driving.

Stay tuned .... The DOT is planning to promulgate official rules on this topic in the motor carrier and rail arenas, and has indicated a desire to have greater authority to regulate these practices in the public transit arena.

Funds Available for Intercity Bus Accessibility

2010-01-15T11:49:00.002-05:00

It's a small program, but serves an important function. Every year, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) makes funds available to help private intercity bus operators improve the accessibility of their vehicles to persons with disabilities.

FTA has just announced the latest solicitation for these competitive "Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Grants." The announcement appears in the January 15, 2010, Federal Register, as well as at the FTA web site. A total of $10.7 million is available this year. Private operators of intercity bus service, either in scheduled route service, commuter service, or charter and tour service, are the ONLY eligible applicants. FTA funds under this program will cover 90 percent of a project's cost, with the applicant responsible for identifying the other 10 percent from other sources. Applications are due April 15, 2010.

For the most part, grantees have used this program to equip over-the-road motor coaches with wheelchair lifts, but a number of other accessibility projects also are eligible. The American Bus Association has compiled some information on this program and its details, which can be viewed on their web site.

DOT to Bring Livability Factors into Play

2010-01-14T13:04:00.002-05:00

The transit community is abuzz over an announcement by DOT Secretary Ray LaHood concerning the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) “New Starts” rating criteria. The details can be found on the FTA website. The American Public Transportation Association quickly reported this news on their site, as did a number of transit-oriented organizations and bloggers, along with some members of Congress.

If you’re not engaged in planning or promoting new rail or other fixed-guideway transit projects, the immediate details may sound arcane (and don’t affect you), but the essence is that “cost-effectiveness” once again is only one of several factors to be considered by FTA in reviewing projects and recommending full funding grant agreements, not the leading factor.

The longer-term message from Mr. LaHood is that DOT wants livability to be taken into account when transit decisions are being made.

As FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff says, “the change is intended to bring our New Starts/Small Starts evaluation criteria into conformity with the Obama Administration’s goals for livability and sustainability.”

The policy change, which was presented as the revocation of a March 9, 2005, “Dear Colleague” letter issued by FTA, took effect immediately, and was described by Mr. LaHood as a return to the statutory framework of Section 5309(d) and (e). A more comprehensive rulemaking is planned to follow.

Despite what some media are reporting, this particular policy change only affects Section 5309 major capital investments for new rail and other fixed-guideway projects. What’s been issued has no bearing on bus and bus facility grants, nor on planning, nor on rail modernization funding, nor on urban, rural or specialized formula-based transit grants.

For most local transit and human services stakeholders, the more interesting part of this announcement is that FTA is beginning to explore more changes in its rules, with the stated purpose of assuring that transit projects make “valuable contribution[s] to our environment and to the accessibility, mobility, and economic vitality of our communities,” according to Mr. LaHood.

It‘s far too early for there to be any specifics, but indications are that the DOT is seeking ways for the six “livability principles” enumerated in the DOT-HUD-EPA Sustainable Communities partnership to find their way into more and more of the federal transit program, as already has been done with the recent solicitations for “Livability Bus” and “Urban Circulator” grants.

Since these principles call for more transportation choices for more people, improved health outcomes, affordability of housing, improved mobility options, and collaboration across programs, this week’s announcement augurs for more participation by more voices in the transportation decision-making of the future.

On Mileage and More

2010-01-08T11:49:00.004-05:00

The Internal Revenue Service has announced its vehicle mileage reimbursement rates for the 2010 calendar year. Since many volunteer transportation programs peg their volunteers' reimbursements to these rates, it can be pretty important stuff.

Basic details are in a December 3, 2009 announcement on the IRS web site. More details are in IRS Revenue Procedure 2009-54, also available from that site.

In short, the standard mileage rate for tax-deductible business use of a personal vehicle is 50 cents per mile. The amount that individuals may claim when deducting their own medical travel expense is 16.5 cents per mile, and the amount that individuals can claim as a charitable deduction for travel is 14 cents per mile.

While the IRS can adjust the business and medical mileage rates every year, based on its economic analyses, the charitable rate is fixed by law in the Internal Revenue Code, and can only be changed by Congress. For many in the nonprofit sector, this has been a challenging issue, especially as fuel costs have soared in recent years.

Volunteer transportation is especially prevalent in the field of senior services. The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, among others, has been noting that a fixed mileage rate, given the current trends in the energy industry, is an increasing challenge to the ability to find and retain volunteers for such important services as meal delivery, taking seniors to medical appointments, etc.

Fuel prices in general are expected to be a challenge this year in all sectors of the transportation community, including both the public and charitable sectors. The Washington Post recently had an article on this topic that helps set that stage for discussion.

A number of organizations are working to change the way in which the charitable mileage rate is calculated. Some analysis of this issue can be found at the Independent Sector web site, but PLEASE NOTE that neither the NRC or CTAA are encouraging any positions on the legislation cited in that site (Independent Sector is promoting a particular bill, but we don't do that here).

SAFETEA-LU extensions

2009-12-22T15:19:00.002-05:00

In case you were afraid that SAFETEA-LU expired last week, fear not. The current expiration date is February 28, 2010 (this extension was signed into law by Pres. Obama as part of the FY 2010 Defense Appropriations Act, H.R. 3326).

Although nowhere near a done deal, the House-passed "jobs bill" (H.R. 2847) would further extend SAFETEA-LU authorizations to the end of this fiscal year, Sept. 30, 2010. The House passed this measure on its way out the door for a holiday recess, but the Senate isn't likely to take it up until January....if at all.

Transit Investments in Indian Country

2009-12-14T15:46:00.002-05:00

Last week, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced funding awards to 100 tribal transit projects. 39 of these are tribal transit capital projects funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). 61 of these are tribal transit projects funded under the FY 2009 allocation for Section 5311(c), which supports capital, operating and planning grants for tribes' transit activities.

For details, see the announcement posted to the FTA website on December 11, 2009.

"Minibus" Brings Money to Transit

2009-12-09T08:40:00.002-05:00

Yesterday (Dec 8), House and Senate negotiators came to terms on a $447 billion Omnibus Appropriations Bill for FY 2010. This bill covers Transportation-HUD, Labor-HHS-Education, and four other areas of federal appropriations for the year.

Highlights of the conference agreement, which would increase transit spending above FY 2009 levels, add funds in the DOT and HUD budgets for aspects of the federal "livability" agenda, and provide modest increases in federal funding for job training, senior services, Head Start, community health centers, et al., are available at the House Appropriations Committee web site, together with the complete text of the conference report.

House and Senate acceptance of this agreement is expected later this week, at which time the bill would be whisked off to President Obama for his expected signature.

FTA Now Seeking Applications for Livability Projects

2009-12-08T09:26:00.001-05:00

As expected, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is seeking applications for transit capital projects as the US DOT’s latest contribution to the DOT-HUD-EPA partnership for sustainable communities. There are two FTA notices in the December 8, 2010, Federal Register.

One is for grants under a Section 5309 "Livability Bus Program." Application deadline is February 8, 2010. Since these are Section 5309 funds, eligible applicants are direct recipients of Section 5307 funds in urbanized areas, Indian tribes (regardless of whether they are receiving Section 5311(c) funds), and states. Projects can be located in urban or rural areas. A total of $150 million is available for competitive grants under this heading; federal share is 80 percent. Although the program is intended to support the six principles of the DOT-HUD-EPA partnership, these grants can be used only for activities eligible for funding under the Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities program, which should present a constructive challenge to prospective applicants.

The other is for grants under a Section 5309 "Urban Circulator" program. Application deadline is February 8, 2010. Eligible applicants are those who are eligible for "new starts/small starts" funding under Section 5309, which essentially are state governments and urban public transit authorities. A total of $130 million is available for competitive grants under this heading, all grants will be $25 million or less; federal share is 80 percent. Similar to the “bus” program, grants can be used only for activities eligible for funding under the Section 5309 “New Starts/Small Starts” program.

Although published in the December 8, 2009, Federal Register, it will take a day or so before these notices appear on the FTA web site, but they will be there shortly.

Congress Casts Eyes on Transit Safety

2009-12-06T23:12:00.002-05:00

While most of the nation's Congressional reporting is going to be on the Senate and health care this week, a couple of calendar items from committees will be of interest to many in the transit community.

On Tuesday, December 8, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee's Highways & Transit Subcommittee is going to have a hearing on "Public Transit Safety: Examining the Federal Role." Witness lists and prepared testimony are not yet on-line, but this hearing will be webcast live at 10:00am (Eastern time) that day. A link to the webcast can be made from the committee's website.

And on the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee's Housing, Transportation & Community Development Subcommittee will be convening a very similar hearing at 9:30am (Eastern time) on Thursday, December 10, entitled "Examining the Federal Role in Overseeing the Safety of Public Transportation Systems." This hearing will be webcast live that day via the Committee's website.

FTA Announces Money for Urban, Rural Transit Livability

2009-12-02T07:32:00.003-05:00

At a media event in New Orleans on December 1, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will be making available $280 million for livability-related transit projects. According to a press release issued that day, $130 million will be available for rail and fixed guideway projects, such as streetcars, circulators, and related mixed-use/walkable/high-density developments. Additionally, $150 million of "Bus and Bus Facility funds will be available for projects that will foster the preservation and enhancement of urban and rural communities by providing new mobility options which provide access to jobs, healthcare, and education, and/or contribute to the redevelopment of neighborhoods into pedestrian-friendly vibrant environments."

Details on timeframes, solicitation processes and related concerns should be available imminently from FTA, but haven't been posted on the FTA website. Interested persons probably should contact their nearest FTA regional office for application processes and details.

TCRP Announces FY 2010 Research Projects

2009-11-17T09:40:00.002-05:00

The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) recently announced the major research projects it will fund in the coming year. These topics are:

Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, 3rd Edition
Defining and Implementing a Transit Safety Culture
Command-Level Decision Making for Transit Emergency Managers
Paratransit Emergency Operations and Preparedness Handbook
Research Support for Transit Industrial Control Systems and Cyber Security
State of Good Repair: Evaluating the Implications for Transit
The Public Transportation Industry's Professional Development/Human Capital Needs to Build a Sustainable Workforce
An Evaluation of Warrants for Major Capital Investment Projects: An Update of "Urban Rail in America"
Public Transit in the 21st Century: Changing Institutional and Business Models

At this point, TCRP is recruiting individuals to serve on the panels that will oversee these projects. At some point in the coming months, those panels will develop scopes of work, and TCRP will invite interested, qualified firms or individuals to submit competitive proposals. Prospective proposers should register with the TCRP website for email notifications with RFPs are released for any of these research projects.

Other cooperative research activities, including TCRP synthesis studies, special and quick response studies under TCRP, transit-related research under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program project 20-65, and the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) "Transit IDEA" program, are announced under separate cycles, but information on these projects and their current and future activities can be found from various pages under the TRB site.

Medicaid: skip the headlines, read the fine print

2009-10-29T21:40:00.003-04:00

Mainstream and alternative media alike are shouting the headlines about the release of the House Democrats' health bill. If you haven't seen this news, take a look at the Washington Post, the New York Times, or your own local media outlet.

For transportation, though, the important thing is to burrow deep into this bill, where Section 1737 would establish, for the first time in health care history, a statutory mandate for states to provide non-emergency medical transportation as part of their program of Medicaid benefits.

While Medicaid transportation is nothing new in most of the US (the Community Transportation Association has an entire portion of its web site dedicated to this topic), it has been addressed as a regulatory matter by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as a result of legal action in the 1980s. But if this section of the House bill becomes law, the transportation component becomes grounded in actual law, not simply in the rulings of federal courts.

Stay tuned, to see - first - if this bill makes it through to House passage, and then to see what happens in the Senate and thereafter.

News, Necessary, but not a Surprise

2009-10-29T20:35:00.002-04:00

While "Capitol Clips" would love to claim ownership of a transportation policy crystal ball, that's not really the case this week.

The current continuing resolution and SAFETEA-LU extension were set to expire on Halloween. There was almost no doubt that some kind of continuation of appropriations and extension of SAFETEA-LU (and some otherwise expired pieces of non-transportation legislation) was going to happen. As predicted, Congress tacked on a six-week "CR" to the FY 2010 Interior/Environment appropriations bill, which now is headed to President Obama's desk for an anticipated signature.

If you're thirsty for news and insight, check out the coverage on DC.Streetsblog, or for something a little closer to mainstream media, visit FederalTimes.com. As always, the details of appropriations, including continuing resolutions, can be found on-line at Thomas.

Extensions? Continuations? -- An Update

2009-10-28T00:20:00.002-04:00

Whether because of the ongoing health care debate or other factors, progress on the annual cycle of appropriations has slowed in Congress. This month, President Obama signed the USDA appropriations into law (PL 111-80), and is expected to sign the Homeland Security appropriations into law any day now. Transportation-HUD appropriations have passed both the House and Senate, but there've not been any conference committee negotiations. The Senate hasn't even taken up Labor/Health & Human Services/Education spending. Up-to-the-minute details are kept on the "Thomas" web site.

The current one-month continuing resolution expires on Halloween. There'll be some kind of continuation after that point. One possibility, reported in Government Executive, is a continuing resolution through mid-December, tagged to one of the bills soon to emerge from conference, such as the Interior/Environment appropriations bill. Or maybe Congress will take a different approach.

What is much less certain is the nature of the next SAFETEA-LU extension. DC.Streetsblog reports that a six-month extension remains under consideration. The House passed a three-month extension of SAFETEA-LU last month. As reported through several intermediaries, Congressional Quarterly is hinting that the White House idea of an 18-month extension may be slipping off the table in Congress. In any case, some kind of extension for the highway and transit authorization must be passed this week.

Sign Up for On-Line National Dialogue on Coordination!

2009-10-20T15:37:00.002-04:00

As part of the National Resource Center's partnership, you and your interested colleagues are invited - no, urged - to please join a Federal Government Online Outreach Effort to Develop New Ideas in Transportation Access for People with Disabilities, Older Adults and Persons of Limited Income

Do you have suggestions and ideas that you would like to share with national leaders that can assist communities to increase access to affordable and reliable transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes?

If so, please register to participate in an upcoming national online dialogue with representatives of the federal government, state and community leaders! For more information, and to register, just click the link to visit the Dialogue website:www.UWRdialogue.org

The Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) invites you to participate in the United We Ride National Dialogue. This groundbreaking, web-based interactive dialogue is designed to allow a broader range of opinions and ideas to inform future policies, the CCAM Strategic Plan and to strengthen the CCAM's relationship with is vast array of partners and stakeholders, including state, local, and tribal governments, transportation agencies, human service agencies, healthcare providers, employment specialists, educators, and consumers.

In order to capture this critical feedback, the CCAM is seeking your participation in a 2 week long, web-based dialogue that will begin on November 2nd and end on November 13th. This dialogue will allow participants to submit, comment, and rate ideas interactively on how to increase access to affordable and reliable transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes. Your invaluable participation will directly inform the work of the CCAM on future policy decisions and the Strategic Plan.

This dialogue is being organized by the National Academy of Public Administration and Easter Seals, in partnership with the National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Office of Disability Employment Policy.

The New Year Begins

2009-10-02T18:02:00.002-04:00

The newest federal fiscal year began this week, on October 1, 2009. Late in the day on Sept. 30, Congress sent President Obama legislation that includes a one-month (to October 31) continuing resolution for nearly all federal spending, and which includes a one-month extension of SAFETEA-LU.

FTA Invites Comments on Proposed Sec 5307 Circular

2009-10-02T17:57:00.002-04:00

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has drafted a proposed new program circular for its "Section 5307" formula grant program for transit in urbanized areas. A notice announcing this proposal appears in the October 2, 2009, Federal Register. Comments are due to FTA by November 30, 2009. A copy of the proposed circular can be accessed on-line from the FTA site. NOTE that this is only a proposal; no changes have been made to current Section 5307 guidance.

President Issues Order on Distracted Driving

2009-10-02T17:52:00.003-04:00

[Corrected October 5]

On October 1, President Obama issued an Executive Order that prohibits Federal employees from text messaging while driving during the course of doing work that is supported by the Federal government, and calls upon Federal agencies to "encourage" their contractors, grantees and subrecipients to adopt similar policies that restrict text messaging while driving. The text of this order, which takes full effect by December 30, 2009, can be found on the White House web site. It was issued in conjunction with this week's Distracted Driving summit, convened by DOT Secretary Ray LaHood.

[Note: this text has been corrected, thanks to a commenter's input]

Two recent GAO reports of interest

2009-09-25T09:04:00.002-04:00

While I generally defer to the NRC "Tappy Grams" e-newsletter to announce new reports and publications, I couldn't hold my breath on these two.

A couple of weeks ago, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, Metropolitan Planning Organizations: Options Exist to Enhance Transportation Planning Capacity and Federal Oversight (GAO-09-868), looking at the capacity of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). My colleague Sheryl summed up this report succinctly: GAO review of what MPOs do and whether they actually improve transportation planning. It also makes recommendations to enhance MPO performance. GAO recognizes that with the imminent expiration of SAFETEA-LU, better information “on the effectiveness of MPOs’ transportation planning activities is needed, especially in light of government and industry associations’ proposals for increasing or modifying MPOs’ authority, responsibilities, and funding.” The report does a good job of explaining what tasks Congress has assigned to MPOs, their funding, and the broad spectrum of MPO characteristics. Particular challenges are the public participation requirements, the lack of authority to implement plans, and obtaining reliable data; also noted were difficulties finding and retaining staff with necessary skills. Suggested statutory changes were discussed, including greater MPO flexibility, authority to implement projects, “an increase in the population threshold for mandatory MPO creation,” increased funding to generate more reliable data, and outcome-based performance requirements.

Hot on the heels of the MPO examination, GAO issued a report looking at the DOT-HUD collaboration on housing and transit, Affordable Housing in Transit-Oriented Development: Key Practices Could Enhance Recent Collaboration Efforts between DOT-FTA and HUD )GAO-09-871). While speaking highly of the agencies' partnership, GAO found "While these interagency efforts have produced numerous strategies, local housing and transit officials told GAO that these strategies had little impact, in part, because they have yet to be implemented. However, the agencies have not yet developed a comprehensive, integrated plan to implement all efforts, and without such a plan, the agencies risk losing momentum. GAO has previously identified key practices that could enhance and sustain collaboration among federal agencies; when compared to these practices, GAO found that HUD, FTA, and DOT have taken some actions consistent with some of these practices--such as defining a common outcome. However, weaknesses in agency housing data and analytical transportation planning methods will limit these agencies' ability to effectively monitor, evaluate, and report results--another key collaboration practice. GAO found that other collaboration practices, such as establishing compatible policies and procedures, could be taken to strengthen collaboration. Finally, without a more formalized approach to collaboration, including establishment of memorandum of agreements, these agencies may not effectively leverage their unique strengths."

Extensions? Continuations?

2009-09-24T12:52:00.002-04:00

Congress has less than a week to do something. The current federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. None of the annual appropriations bills have become law. SAFETEA-LU also expires on Sept. 30. Expect lots of whirlwind activity from Capitol Hill, and even more rumors and speculation.

As of today, it looks and sounds like there will be a one-month continuing resolution on government spending, probably tied to the Legislative Branch appropriations measure, which is the closest to being ready to present to Pres. Obama for his signature. It's actually pretty likely that quite a few of the other appropriations bills, possibly even the DOT bill, could then be cleared for signature into law during October (By the way, if you're looking for a quick status of appropriations bills, bookmark the Library of Congress' THOMAS web site).

Less clear is what's to be done with extending SAFETEA-LU, although some kind of extension is virtually guaranteed. Yesterday, the House passed a bill, H.R. 3617, that would extend SAFETEA-LU for three months, to Dec. 31, 2009. However, it doesn't sound like the Senate is too keen on this idea, with Senate offices still buzzing about doing an 18-month extension of SAFETEA-LU. One of the latest rumors, which sounds logical, but is only a rumor, is that there may be a one-month SAFETEA-LU extension folded into the above-rumored continuing resolution. That's one way to keep the federal transit and highway programs moving forward, but there are many in this field who still blanch at the memory of the many 1/12 at a time funding allotments while waiting for what is now SAFETEA-LU to be completed.

FTA Announces TIGGER Grant Winners, short-term extension looms for SAFETEA-LU

2009-09-22T14:16:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced the 43 recipients of $100 million in competitive ARRA grants under the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) grant program. As described in the official DOT press release, these grants are for a variety of bus, facility and rail projects in urban, suburban and rural areas. Writing for DC.Streetsblog, Elana Schor reminds us that the $1.5 billion multimodal pool of US DOT "TIGER" grants (not to be confused with the FTA "TIGGER" grants) are slated to be revealed this autumn, as well.

In another of Elana's DC.Streetsblog postings, news is out that the wheels are in motion for a 3-month extension of SAFETEA-LU. Recall that there is a raging debate in DC about whether to extend SAFETEA-LU for 18 months, or reauthorize it immediately. In any event, some kind of extension becomes necessary as the current highway/transit authorization expires on Sept. 30.

Health Reform Takes Senate Stage

2009-09-21T10:59:00.002-04:00

The Senate Finance Committee will be wrestling with health reform this week. NY Times reports 564 amendments have been filed for the committee to consider. For most transportation interests, the leading issue in this debate is what will happen with Medicaid. In both House and Senate, the pressure's on for expanding Medicaid to all persons living at 133 percent of federal poverty lines, which would include many of the "working poor." As a side note, NPR recently reported on federal employees who can't afford their part of the premiums for feds' health benefits (note: listen to the 5-minute story, or download the transcript, as the NPR web story doesn't go that far). Governors are very worried that this expansion will create crises in states' budgets, although House and Senate bills currently hold states harmless. For transportation providers, it's less clear what that sort of Medicaid expansion would mean, as most of the new enrollees are, as mentioned, working people who can't currently afford health coverage, and thus more likely than current Medicaid enrollees to have existing transportation resources; on the other hand, they are likely to have dependents who may need access, so it's kind of hard to predict what would happen on the streets. Also in the House and Senate bills, there may be language that would - for the first time - add transportation as a specifically covered benefit within Medicaid (remember that, despite the billions of dollars now spent every year on Medicaid transport, it's done because a couple of federal courts said so, not on account of any statutory authorization). For more information on this possible change to Medicaid law - admittedly with a certain bias - see the CTAA web site.

Senate Passes FY 2010 Transit Spending Measure

2009-09-18T12:53:00.002-04:00

On Thursday, September 17, the Senate passed its version of FY 2010 Transportation-HUD appropriations. The House had passed its version of this bill (H.R. 3288) on July 23. A quick read of the transit sections in these two bills show they’re not too far off from one another. The Senate would fund the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and its programs at $11.1 billion, which is about 8 percent more than this year’s funding. The House comes in slightly lower, at $10.5 billion, which is about 2 percent above this year’s transit funding.

Aside from specific project earmarks, which always are grist for House-Senate conference committee negotiations, the greatest difference between House and Senate FTA funding is in the “Section 5309” funding for fixed-guideway new starts and small starts: Senate funds this category at $2.3 billion, House would appropriate $1.8 billion (which essentially is the same as this year’s funding). There also are differences in House and Senate approaches relative to the funding of transit-related energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction projects, with the Senate appropriating $100 million to these, and the House directing that unearmarked bus and bus facility funds be used for these projects.

The lion’s share of federal transit spending comes from the category of “Formula and bus grants,” which would receive $8.3 billion in both House and Senate bills, which is one percent above this year’s figure. Both the House and Senate make identical allocations among the categories under that heading:

Clean Fuels Program: $61,500,000
Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program: $10,800,000
Urban Area Formula Grants: $4,757,130,662
Bus and Bus Facilities: $584,000,000
Fixed Guideway Modernization: $1,756,134,569
Planning Programs: $113,500,000
Elderly and Persons with Disabilities: $140,680,447
Nonurbanized Area Formula: $607,025,922
Job Access and Reverse Commute: $164,500,000
New Freedom: $92,500,000
National Transit Database: $3,500,000
Alternatives Analysis: $25,000,000
Alternative Transportation in Parks and Park Lands: $26,900,000

House and Senate have made some programmatic shifts from this year, primarily to reduce the amount of discretionary bus and bus facility grants by about $300 million, with offsetting increases in rural and urban formula transit funds. The House Appropriations Committee attributed this decision to the fact that FY 2009 was the last year of SAFETEA-LU project earmarks.

Senate Poised to Wrap Up DOT Spending Bill

2009-09-17T10:56:00.002-04:00

The Senate is expected to complete debate and pass its version of FY 2010 Transportation/HUD appropriations today. In yesterday's floor debates, a series of amendments sponsored by Senators McCain and Coburn were defeated; these amendments would have trimmed numerous aspects of states' highway and transit funding programs. This morning, the Senate will consider five last amendments, and then pass the measure, which would go to House-Senate conference negotiations.

Transit Spending now on Senate floor

2009-09-11T11:25:00.001-04:00

Having returned from the August recess, the Senate is now debating the FY 2010 Transportation-HUD appropriations bill. Here's what Congressional Quarterly is reporting on that measure:

'Debate on the Transportation-HUD spending bill (HR 3288) has already begun in the Senate, and Democratic leaders have said they hope to work through the bill early next week.

'“We would like to have some of these amendments over Friday and Monday be offered so that we can move expeditiously to this really important appropriations bill and be moving quickly by Monday afternoon on this,” said Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee.

'The Senate’s version of the measure would provide $122 billion in funding for transportation and housing programs for fiscal 2010, including $42.5 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, $18.1 billion for Section 8 tenant-based vouchers, $11.1 billion for the Federal Transit Administration and $15.6 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration.'

FTA Considers Capital Project Management Rules - seeking comments

2009-09-10T12:13:00.004-04:00

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is considering the possibility of issuing regulations about how its grantees manage "major capital projects." In that vein, FTA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the September 10, 2009, Federal Register, and on its website. Basically, this notice presents a number of questions that stakeholders are welcome to answer and address as appropriate to their views. Historically, the project management guidelines being discussed have affected only rail and other fixed-guideway projects. However, one of the first questions in this notice is one of scope - how to define the "major capital projects" that may fall under any regulations that arise from this. Comments are due November 9, 2009. For more information, contact Aaron James or Carlos Garay of FTA at aaron.james@dot.gov or carlos.garay@dot.gov respectively.

Senate Appropriations Action

2009-07-30T11:58:00.004-04:00

[UPDATED August 6]

On July 30, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its version of FY 2010 Transportation-HUD appropriations; on July 31, Senate Appropriations marked up FY 2010 Labor-HHS appropriations. On the Senate floor, USDA appropriations were passed August 5, in one of the last actions of the Senate before its August recess.

House Passes Record-Setting Transit Appropriations Bill

2009-07-24T16:29:00.002-04:00

On July 23, the House passed its version of HR 3288, the FY 2010 Transportation and HUD appropriations bill. Within the federal transit program, here are some of the funding levels as approved by the House:

Section 5305 statewide and metropolitan transit planning grants: $113.5 million
Section 5307 urban transit formula grants (including funds apportioned per Section 5340): $4.8 billion
Section 5308 clean fuels bus grants: $61.5 million
Section 5309 bus and bus facility grants: $584.0 million
Section 5309 fixed guideway modernization grants: $1.8 billion
Section 5309 fixed guideway capital projects: $1.8 billion
Section 5310 elderly and persons with disabilities transit formula grants: $140.7 million
Section 5311 rural transit formula grants (including funds apportioned per Section 5340): $607.0 million
Section 5316 job access and reverse commute formula grants: $164.5 million
Section 5317 new freedom formula grants: $92.5 million
Section 5320 transit in parks and public lands: $26.9 million
Section 5335 funds for national transit database program management: $3.5 million
Section 5339 new fixed guideway alternatives analysis grants: $25.0 million
Over-the-road bus accessibility grants: $10.8 million
Transit research programs (including TCRP, NTI, university research, etc.): $65.7 million
Supplemental grant to WMATA: $150.0 million
FTA administrative expenses: $97.5 million

Action on this bill now turns to the Senate, whose transportation appropriations subcommittee drafted its version of this bill in a July 29 markup.

What to do with SAFETEA-LU: Divergent Paths

2009-07-23T19:42:00.001-04:00

SAFETEA-LU, the current authorization for federal transit and highway programs, is set to expire Sept. 30, 2009.

In the Senate, the key committees all have cast their approval on a plan to simply extend SAFETEA-LU authorizations for 18-months, through March 31, 2011. The Senate Environment and Public Works committee okay'ed this approach on July 15; the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee approved it on July 21; the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee approved an 18-month extension on July 23. This extension still needs approval by the Senate Finance Committee before presentation to the full Senate for a vote.

In the House, the Transportation and Infrastructure committee has been resolute in calling for reauthorizing SAFETEA-LU this year, without an extension. Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chair of this committee, introduced a "Surface Transportation Authorization Act" earlier this summer; most recently, the Highways and Transit subcommittee held a hearing on July 16 at which nearly all the witnesses spoke to what they said was a pressing need for a new authorization this fall, without delay or extension.

These are very different approaches, and the September 30 deadline is coming up quickly. Hard to say where this will lead.

This week on the House Floor

2009-07-23T14:33:00.003-04:00

House debates and passes FY 2010 transportation-housing appropriations July 23. House debates and passes Labor-HHS appropriations bill July 24.

Health Care Reform Legislation - what's in it for coordinated transportation?

2009-07-20T17:52:00.002-04:00

While there are many significant issues being debated and amended in Congressional committees concerning health care reform, most of these proposed overhauls are not likely to have a direct effect on the provision of transportation services.

The largest area of transportation interest is the proposed expansion of Medicaid coverage. In its current form, the House version of health care reform (H.R. 3200) would expand the pool of Medicaid-eligible persons to almost all people at or below 133 percent of poverty, starting in 2013. As drafted in the House, there would be a 100 percent federal share for all Medicaid expenses incurred for persons added to the Medicaid population under this bill. It's not yet clear how this expansion of Medicaid would affect the provision of transportation, or the matching rates that would be used. Those questions may become clearer after the House Energy and Commerce committee completes its markup this week.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated this expansion of Medicaid would come with a $438 billion price tag to the federal budget between now and FY 2019.

Elsewhere in the draft House bill, there is an authorization for an $89 billion "public health investment fund," which would be used to support a number of activities, including a $39 billion expansion of the community health centers network over the next ten years. Although not treated as "mandatory" spending, this new trust fund, and its expenses, would be "off budget" when deficit calculations and budget balancing goals are addressed by Congress.

The health care debate remains very fluid. Two of the three House committees with jurisdiction - Ways & Means and Education & Labor - completed their work on portions of the House bill on July 17. The third - Energy & Commerce - is marking up its sections of the bill during the week of July 20.

FY 2010 Appropriations Update

2009-07-14T14:48:00.002-04:00

UPDATED, July 20...

Congress is racing through the process of drafting and passing the various FY 2010 appropriations measures. Here's a quick run-down of where some of next year's spending bills currently stand in the House and Senate:

Transportation/Housing & Urban Development -- House subcommittee markup was July 13, full committee markup was July 17; may arrive on House floor July 28 0r 29. Senate action not yet scheduled.
Labor/Health & Human Services/Education -- House subcommittee markup was July 10, full committee markup was July 17; may arrive on House floor as soon as July 22. Senate action not yet scheduled.
Agriculture and rural development (H.R. 2997; H.Rept. 111-181) -- House subcommittee markup held June 11, full committee markup was June 18; HOUSE PASSED July 9. Senate version (S. 1406; S.Rept. 111-39) marked up and reported out from Senate appropriations committee July 7; no floor action yet scheduled.
Commerce/Justice/State (H.R. 2847; H.Rept. 111-149) -- HOUSE PASSED June 18. Marked up and reported out from Senate Appropriations Committee June 25.
Interior & Environment (H.R. 2996; H.Rept. 111-180) -- HOUSE PASSED June 26. Marked up and reported out (S.Rept. 111-38) from Senate Appropriations Committee June 25.
Homeland Security (H.R. 2892; H.Rept. 111-157) -- HOUSE PASSED June 24. Senate version (S. 1298; S.Rept. 111-31) marked up and reported out from Senate appropriations Committee June 18; SENATE PASSED July 9.
Military Construction/Veterans Affairs (H.R. 3082; H.Rept. 111-188) -- House subcommittee markup was June 16, full committee markup was June 24; HOUSE PASSED July 10. Senate version (S.1407; S.Rept. 111-40) marked up and reported out from Senate Appropriations Committee July 7.

Once subcommittees have finished drafting (or "marking up," to use Congressional jargon) their versions of these bills, one often can find highlights, or even detailed language, on the subcommittee pages at http://appropriations.house.gov/ and http://appropriations.senate.gov/. For legislation that has been officially introduced, the Library of Congress' "THOMAS" web site has a very readable table that shows status of current appropriations bills at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app10.html .

[NOTE: External links are shared for informational purposes only. Neither the NRC, the Community Transportation Association, nor the Federal Transit Administration assumes any responsibility for the views, opinions or accuracy of external links]

Transportation, Coordination, and the Climate Change Bill

2009-07-01T17:41:00.002-04:00

Last week, the House passed a comprehensive energy policy and climate change bill (H.R. 2454). This bill faces an unpredictable future in the Senate, where it is likely to be debated this month.

The centerpiece of the House legislation is the establishment of a “cap and trade” system for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

Several features of the House bill would be likely to have effects on the planning and provision of public and community transportation services. Some of these are discussed below.

Within the trading of emission allowances, a portion of these allowances would be distributed to states’ State Energy and Environment Development (SEED) accounts (a new creation under this bill) for the purposes of supporting states’ renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. Up to 10 percent of the allowances states receive under this allocation could be used to pay the “non-federal” share of FTA Section 5307, 5308, 5309, 5310, 5311 or 5319 grants.
States and MPOs would be required to address greenhouse gas reduction as part of the development of their TIPs and STIPs. The bill would require these plans to be developed in coordination with air quality, environmental health, and transportation agencies, and would require these plans to be developed in consultation with housing, public health, economic development, land use, environment, and public transportation agencies. This section of the bill outlines a number of measures to be explored in the planning process, including setting targets for increased transit ridership and many facets of coordination between transportation and human or social service functions within the state or locality.
There are provisions to promote location-efficient mortgages, which offer a financial inducement to finance housing that is located near public transportation.
The “green” and affordable housing sections of the House bill would require local housing and planning agencies to coordinate housing strategies with their transportation planning efforts, and to make use of existing infrastructure in housing plans, programs and projects.
The House bill includes a "Climate Change Worker Adjustment Assistance" program to aid workers placed out of jobs as a result of changes in current energy-intensive industries. This program is modeled after the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, and includes transportation assistance to dislocated workers, and inclusion of transportation and various social services such as job training and child care as parts of the family of services eligible to be provided to these dislocated workers.
There would be an authorization, albeit without specific funding, for EPA-administered grants to support a "SmartWay" transportation efficiency program, aimed primarily at the freight transportation sector.
Other items in the bill include a small program of competitive grants for “clean business” innovation, transit agency participation in urban tree programs, a small program of competitive grants to promote sustainable low-income community development projects, and a national program to inventory fish and wildlife habitat corridors for consideration in transportation planning processes.

Although transportation is not directly discussed, the Washington Post recently posted a set of Q's & A's about the House legislation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/05/AR2009070502287.html?hpid=moreheadlines

ARRA, Beyond Transit: Workforce Development

2009-06-26T17:06:00.002-04:00

Within the transit community, the primary focus of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) interest is on the $8.4 billion in transit capital investments for urban, rural and tribal areas.

But what about other programs? This posting takes a quick look at just one of the other agencies involved in ARRA, the workforce development programs administered by the Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

Under ARRA, a total of $20 billion has been routed to DOL. Out of this amount, ETA received $4.0 billion, of which $1.2 billion was for WIA youth employment programs, $495.0 million for WIA adult employment and training programs, $1.4 billion for WIA dislocated worker programs, $396.0 million for Wagner-Peyser Act employment services, and $500.0 million for unemployment compensation. The WIA and Wagner-Peyser elements were allocated to states using the same formulas as their "regular" (non-ARRA) allotments of these funds. That distribution was announced on March 19, 2009. These ARRA funds must be spent by June 30, 2011.

For the most part, these allotments were folded into states' existing WIA and W-P programs. ARRA did stipulate certain types of employment ("casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, or swimming pool") for which these funds could not be used. ARRA further required that its funds be prioritized to serve recipients of public assistance and low-income adults, in contrast to "regular" WIA and W-P funds, which don't allow that sort of prioritization.

States are required to submit WIA/W-P plan amendments to ETA no later than June 30, 2009, that detail their plans for spending the ARRA allocations. There were requirements for stakeholder input and participation in development of these plan amendments.

Because states are just now in the process of completing and submitting their plan amendments, it's too soon to tell how ARRA funds are helping achieve recovery among the country's workforce programs. For transportation stakeholders already engaged with their workforce partners, there should be opportunities, but no surprises, as all the WIA programs (youth, adult, and dislocated worker) allow their funds to be used for a variety of support services, which specifically include transportation. Under ARRA, as with WIA, the details are left in the hands of state and local workforce boards.

House Panel Advances Transportation Bill

2009-06-22T15:08:00.003-04:00

[UPDATED June 26]

This Wednesday, June 24, the Highways & Transit subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee officially drafted ("marked up," in legislative jargon) the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009, which would renew and restructure the nation's highway and transit programs for the next six years. Take a look at http://transportation.house.gov/ for more information.

Oberstar Unveils Transportation Blueprint

2009-06-19T15:14:00.001-04:00

[NOTE: The following information is subject to change, as more details are learned about this major legislative proposal]

Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, unveiled his initial blueprint for the next highway and transit authorization on June 18.

Transportation advocates and stakeholders are poring over the broad language in Rep Oberstar's documents, to see what direction Congress is likely to be taking on this important legislation.

In terms of the relationships between public transportation and human services, one significant detail in this blueprint is a proposed consolidation of the current FTA Section 5310, Job Access, and New Freedom programs into a formula-based "Coordinated Access and Mobility Program" (CAMP). Another detail of possible interest is the proposed establishment, under the Federal Highway Administration, of an Office of Livability, which would be charged to administer some grant programs and provide technical support to promote livability and sustainability in planning and transportation system design.

Other items in Rep Oberstar's documents allude to increased funding overall for transit and highway spending, increased share of formula grants to rural and small-urban areas, an emphasis on performance targets and accountability in transit programs, increasing federal share of transit operating assistance, and expanded use of ridership data in determining transit formula grant apportionments. Major transportation projects would be approached in a multi-modal fashion through programs to be administered by the DOT Secretary's office, including a "Metropolitan Mobility and Access" program. There would be a DOT-wide emphasis on streamlining, and performance-based reporting. In the planning arena, there would be increased possible roles for rural transportation planning organizations, and increased expectations for local stakeholder participation in metropolitan and rural planning processes.

Video of Rep Oberstar's news conference releasing this blueprint, along with links to key documents (note that legislative language has not yet been made publicly available), are at http://transportation.house.gov/. Look for the section entitled The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009: "A Blueprint for Investment and Reform"

MEANWHILE, President Obama and DOT Secretary LaHood are calling for a short-term 18-month extension of SAFETEA-LU. This has been reported in a number of places, including a report (based on a direct interview with Sec LaHood) at StreetsBlog, http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/06/17/lahood-asks-congress-for-18-month-extension-of-four-year-old-transpo-law/.

Some ARRA funds available for transit operating assistance

2009-06-19T15:06:00.002-04:00

[UPDATED JUNE 26]

Urban and rural transit providers are slated to gain some operating assistance flexibility with their American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, based on a provision tucked into a supplemental appropriations measure (HR 2346), which President Obama signed into law on June 24.

Under this provision, 10 percent of formula-based ARRA allocations to states and urbanized areas may be used "for the operating costs of equipment and facilities for use in public transportation, or for [rural intercity bus] activities under Section 5311(f)."

FTA Administrator Peter M. Rogoff has issued a "Dear Colleague" letter announcing this provision. His letter, which includes a link to FTA's detailed questions and answers on this topic, can be found on the FTA website at http://www.fta.dot.gov/regional_offices_10012.html.

The New York Times recently ran a story illustrating the need and anticipation for this feature of the new bill: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/us/17transit.html?scp=1&sq=transit%20operating%20costs&st=cse

New Deputy Administrator at FTA

2009-06-17T11:44:00.001-04:00

On June 8, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff announced the appointment of Therese Watkins McMillan as the Federal Transit Administration's Deputy Administrator. She comes to FTA from the San Francisco Bay area, where she served most recently as Deputy Executive Director of Policy for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. There is a complete announcement of Ms. McMillan's appointment on the FTA website, accessed via www.fta.dot.gov.

Public Transit, Coordination & the Energy Bill

2009-06-03T22:40:00.002-04:00

One might imagine that a comprehensive energy policy bill would have some things to say about public transportation, even if it does not directly address human services or their coordination with public transportation.

As reported out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month, the "American Clean Energy and Securirty Act," H.R. 2454, did not have much in it that directly related to public or human services transportation.

There is language that would require states and MPOs to address greenhouse gas reduction as part of the development of their TIPs and STIPs. The bill would require these plans to be developed in coordination with air quality, environmental health, and transportation agencies, and would require these plans to be developed in consulation with housing, public health, economic development, land use, environment, and public transportation agencies. This section of the bill outlines a number of measures to be explored in the planning process, many of which are facets of coordination between transportation and human or social service functions within the state or locality.
There would be an authorization, albeit without specific funding, for an EPA-administered program to support a "SmartWay" transportation efficiency program, aimed primarily at the freight transportation sector.
The House bill includes a "Climate Change Worker Adjustment Assistance" program to aid workers placed out of jobs as a result of changes in current energy-intensive industries. This program is modeled after the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, and includes transportation assistance to dislocated workers, and inclusion of transportation and various social services such as job training and child care as parts of the family of services eligible to be provided to these dislocated workers.

Senate Bill Aims to Enhance Rural Transit

2009-06-03T18:42:00.004-04:00

The season of SAFETEA-LU reauthorization is beginning. This highway and transportation authorization expires September 30, 2009.

One of the bills recently introduced as part of possible amendments to the current transit program is S. 1144, the "Rural Transit Improvement and Flexibility Act of 2009," sponsored by Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID).

This bill would call for three changes affecting public transit in rural areas:

Allocating more of FTA Section 5311 rural transit funds based on states' land area, and less on the basis of states' rural population (this would benefit states, primarily in the western US, with large land areas, at the expense of states with high rural populations and not as much land area, such as the New England states)
Allowing all states to use up to 25 percent of their FTA Section 5310 allocations for operating assistance (at a 50 percent federal share), with a higher proportion of Section 5310 operating assistance eligibility for states with large rural land areas (this would apply to all states, with greater level of possible operating assistance availability in certain western US states, but no states would gain or lose funding under this provision).
Authorizing a pilot program to support multi-modal transit centers in rural and small-urban areas, but only in states with population densities of 100 persons per square mile or less. This program would be authorized at $25 million in FY 2010, and at $50 million in FY 2011 through 2015.

It is not expected this bill will be passed on its own in the current session of Congress. More likelly, the sponsors are championing a concept they hope to see included in SAFETEA-LU reauthorization this year.

FTA Administrator Speaks at CTAA Expo

2009-06-03T15:34:00.003-04:00

Newly minted Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff gave the first public address of his FTA career this week at the CTAA Expo. More reporting on the front page of CTAA, at www.ctaa.org. Highlights of his remarks included a desire to forge stronger relationships between FTA and agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In response to an audience question, he acknowledged that FTA has been historically focused on vehicles and facilities, and at least one part of his legacy will be pictures of transit-using people on the walls of FTA's offices.

GAO Reports on Job Access Program

2009-05-29T12:26:00.003-04:00

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just issued its latest analysis of the Federal Transit Administration's Section 5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program. In the latest report, GAO finds that states and urbanized areas are starting to obligate funds and deliver a variety of projects, with most JARC funds being used to cover operating costs.

Noting that 14 percent of FY 2006 JARC funds lapsed , GAO agreed with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) that there were several factors behind these lapses of funding, including delays arising from the time spent by FTA meeting with stakeholders and crafting program guidance, and the number of steps required by law to deliver projects, including the designation of recipients, development of coordinated plans, and competitive basis for project selection.

GAO found that there continue to be some structural program challenges, including:

Difficulty in securing non-federal matching funds;
Complexity facing states as they manage statewide JARC programs for their rural and smaller urbanized areas; and
Complexity of managing and delivering JARC projects in very large metropolitan areas, including coordination challenges among multiple JARC recipients and challenges coordinating JARC services with other FTA-funded transit activities in these metro areas.

The bottom line of this report, though, is summed up in GAO's introductory statement, "FTA is making progress in awarding funds and has awarded about 48 percent of the $436.6 million in JARC funds apportioned for fiscal years 2006 through 2008 to 49 states and 131 of 152 large urbanized areas."

The GAO report is "Federal Transit Administration: Progress and Challenges in Implementing and Evaluating the Job Access and Reverse Commute Program," and is report number GAO-09-496, issued May 21, 2009. Available on line from the GAO website:
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-496

Rogoff Confirmed to Lead FTA

2009-05-26T10:24:00.004-04:00

The Senate confirmed Peter Rogoff as our nation's newest Federal Transit Administrator on May 22. Mr Rogoff comes to the FTA after serving 22 years on the staff of the US Senate Appropriations Committee, including 14 years as Democratic staff director for the subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations.

UPDATE: Mr Rogoff makes his official industry debut on June 2 at the Community Transportation Association EXPO in Providence, RI. Read more at www.ctaa.org.

DOT Solicits TIGER Applications

2009-05-17T22:00:00.004-04:00

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or the "stimulus bill") authorized $1.5 billion in discretionary grants to be awarded by the Secretary of Transportation. On May 18, the US Dept of Transportation (DOT) announced the availability of these grants. Applications are due by September 15, 2009.

Although these grants are not specific to any mode, there is much about this solicitation that should interest public and human services transportation stakeholders. First and foremost are the selection criteria: one of the two "primary selection criteria" is a set of long-term outcomes, which include elements of livability and sustainability; the second primary selection criterion is job creation and economic stimulus; one of the two "secondary selection criteria" is partnership, in which the DOT specifically states "The Department [of Transportation] will give priority to projects that demonstrate strong collaboration among a broad range of participants and/or integration of transportation with other public service efforts."

In other words, projects that demonstrate significant and meaningful coordination between transportation and such aspects as housing, community development and job creation are certain to have a competitive advantage in this solicitation.

Eligible applicants are "State and local governments, including U.S. territories, tribal governments, transit agencies, port authorities, other political subdivisions of State or local governments, and multi-State or multi-jurisdictional applicants."

Although ARRA specified that projects to be funded under this program would be between $20 million and $300 million, the DOT has determined that it may waive the $20 million floor, and is willing to entertain proposals for projects that are less than $20 million in scope. Other than by browsing the May 18, 2009, Federal Register, the text of this notice has not yet been posted (as of May 17). However, more information is available on-line at http://www.dot.gov/recovery/.

CMS Proposes Permanent Suspension of Certain Rules

2009-05-06T09:34:00.003-04:00

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a permanent rescission of some rules that were issued this past autumn. If finalized, the rules that would NOT take effect are those affecting school-based Medicaid services (including transportation for school-based Medicaid), outpatient hospital services, and case management services.

CMS is soliciting comments on this proposed rescission. Comments are due June 1, 2009. While it seems likely that these rescissions will indeed take effect, nothing is certain. For more information, read the CMS notice in the May 6, 2009, Federal Register at page 21232, or contact Lisa Parker of CMS by phone at 410-786-4665.

Kansan Tapped to Head AoA

2009-05-04T08:55:00.002-04:00

The following is an official announcement from the US Administration on Aging.

President Obama announces intention to nominate Kathy Greenlee as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging

The Administration on Aging is pleased to report that on Friday, May 1, 2009, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Kathy Greenlee, Kansas Secretary of Aging, for Assistant Secretary for Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Kathy Greenlee has served as Secretary of Aging for the state of Kansas since January 2006. In that capacity, she has led a cabinet-level agency with 192 full-time staff members and a total budget of $495 million. Her department oversees the state’s Older Americans Act programs, the distribution of Medicaid long-term care payments and regulation of nursing home licensure and survey processes. Ms. Greenlee has served on the board of the National Association of State Units on Aging since 2008. From 2004-2006, Greenlee served as State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Kansas, and prior to that, was the state’s Assistant Secretary of Aging. From 1999-2002, Greenlee served as general counsel at the Kansas Insurance Department. During her tenure there, she led the team of regulators who evaluated the proposed sale of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas, and oversaw the Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas program. Greenlee also served as Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations for then Governor Kathleen Sebelius. She is a graduate of the University of Kansas with degrees in business administration and law.

Prior to assuming her official duties as Assistant Secretary for Aging, Ms. Greenlee will be officially nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Rural Development funds available from HUD

2009-05-03T12:54:00.002-04:00

It's a very short turnaround time: applications are due May 29, 2009. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has just announced its FY 2009 solicitation for grant proposals under the Rural Housing and Economic Development Program. As in the past, a total of $26 million is available for this year's "RHED" grants. Eligible applicants include tribes, state housing finance agencies, state and local economic development agencies, rural nonprofits, and community development corporations. Projects must be in rural areas, which in this program is defined as either (a) a non-urban place [that's a Census term] having fewer than 2500 inhabitants, regardless of whether the place is inside or outside a metropolitan statistical area, (b) a county (or Louisiana parish) with 20,000 or fewer inhabitants, or (c) any place with 20,000 or fewer inhabitants that is not inside a metropolitan statistical area. The primary focus on this year's soliciation are strategies to address housing and housing finance in rural areas, but other possibilities exist. For more information, go on-line to www.hud.gov/rhed.

Congress Passes Budget Resolution

2009-05-01T08:13:00.004-04:00

This week, Congress passed its FY 2010 budget resolution. Typically, nonbinding resolutions such as this are interesting, as they signal the tenor of the annual budget and appropriations debate. This year, there's more significance, as the resolution includes a $325 billion reserve to cover SAFETEA-LU reauthorization.

Tribal Transit Grant Applications Now Being Accepted

2009-04-29T09:36:00.002-04:00

Federally recognized Indian tribes are invited to submit applications for the Federal Transit Administration's grant program for public transportation on Indian reservations, commonly called its Tribal Transit Program. FTA has a total of $15.0 million available in this year's round of competitive grants. Priority will be given to funding continuations of existing projects under this program. Applications are due June 29, 2009. Note that grant applications are to be submitted directly to FTA either electronically or in person, as detailed in the Federal Register notice of April 29, 2009; FTA is not accepting applications through the federal grants.gov website for this program.

New Policy on New Freedom

2009-04-29T09:22:00.002-04:00

After a period of review and examination, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has issued an updated interpretation for the phrase "beyond the ADA" with regard to its Section 5317 New Freedom program. This policy statement was published in the April 29, 2009, Federal Register, and is due to appear shortly on the FTA website.

In brief, FTA has clarified a more inclusive definition of eligible New Freedom projects, stating, in part, "new and expanded fixed route and demand responsive transit service planned for and designed to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities are eligible projects." All other aspects of the New Freedom program guidance remain unchanged.

This policy statement takes effect May 29, 2009. For more information, contact David Schneider of FTA at david.schneider@dot.gov

FTA Announces Formula Funding Apportionments

2009-04-29T09:14:00.003-04:00

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced the remainder of the FY 2009 formula funding apportionments and allocations. This notice essentially makes these funds available to states and urbanized areas for these programs: Section 5307 (urban transit formula grants), Section 5310 (formula grants for elderly/persons with disabilities capital assistance), Section 5311 (rural transit formula grants), Section 5316 (job access and reverse commute formula grants), Section 5317 (new freedom formula grants), statewide & metropolitan transit planning, and the remainder of funds for designated projects under the Section 5309 transit capital assistance program.

FTA took a slightly different approach with this announcement. The required notice in the Federal Register (published on April 27, 2009) does not include the pages of detailed funding tables. Instead, readers and interested persons are directed straight to the FTA website, where this information is detailed at http://www.fta.dot.gov/regional_offices_9562.html.

UPDATE: FTA did intend (or need) to publish these tables in the Federal Register, after all. The FTA website (see above) is easier to navigate, but there is a complete 76-page notice, detailing all the apportionments and allocations, in the April 30, 2009, Federal Register.

President Signs National Service Bill Into Law

2009-04-21T15:47:00.002-04:00

Today (April 21), President Obama signed the "Serve America Act" into law. At its essence, this is a reuathorization of domestic volunteer service programs managed by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Our colleagues in the voluntary service sector can speak more eloquently about the overall opportunities that are created under this legislation. Perhaps its most dramatic feature is a tripling of the AmeriCorps program.

There are two leading potential angles of interest for public and community transportation in this legislation. One is that most of the volunteer service programs allow program funds to be used to cover at least a portion of participants' transportation costs, either as part of their stipends, or else as part of sponsors' management of particular service projects. Another is that it is possible for AmeriCorps or other service programs to be used to provide on-the-ground people to do field work, resource coordination, mobility management, or outreach for community-based transportation activities.

In case you're wondering where this legislation may relate to your state or community, here's a list of service programs it has extended, amended, renewed or established:

Learn and Serve America
National Service Trust
National Civilian Conservation Corps
AmeriCorps*VISTA
National Senior Service Corps
Volunteers for Prosperity

For information on how the federal government will implement this legislation, go to the website of the Corporation for National and Community Service, at www.nationalservice.gov

Quick Notice - FTA seeks comments on Buy America waiver request

2009-04-13T11:36:00.002-04:00

The Federal Transit Administration is seeking comments on whether to grant a waiver from its Buy America requirements for minivans and minivan chassis produced outside the United States. Petitioners have argued that there are no domestically produced minivans or minivan chassis, therefore a waiver on the basis of non-availability is immediately necessary. FTA seeks public comment on this request, in a notice published in the April 2, 2009, Federal Register, and linked from the FTA website at http://www.fta.dot.gov/regional_offices_federal_register.html.

IF CONCERNED, ACT FAST, AS COMMENTS ARE DUE APRIL 16!

NOTE: Even though the petitioner is El Dorado National, and the topic centers around Chrysler-produced minivans, the request, if granted would apply to all minivans and minivan chassis, regardless of manufacturer.