Hire more Heroes Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Lipinski-Nadler-Dold
Amendment to restore the ability of state and local agencies to use
various transportation programs for transit projects.

Under current law, highway and transit projects can receive up to 80%
in federal funding. When it comes to transit Capital Investment Grants
(also known as New Starts and Small Starts), it has become common
practice for transit agencies to receive less than 80% from that
account. Agencies often receive closer to 50%, in part because New
Starts is funded through general revenue in the appropriations bill,
funding is stretched thin, and agencies ``overmatch'' to submit more
competitive applications.

Transit agencies are currently able to use CMAQ, STP, and TIFIA, to
help fill the gap between whatever they receive in transit New
Start funding and the 80% federal funding allowed under the law.

H.R. 3763 does two things that harm New Starts projects. It codifies
a reduction in the transit New Start federal share to 50%, and it
prohibits the use of other federal transportation dollars to fill the
gap.

Nothing in the bill reduces the amount these states and localities
will receive, so this provision does not reduce the cost of the bill,
or shift funding from one state to another. It simply ties the hands of
local agencies and makes it harder, and potentially more expensive, to
complete transit projects.

The amendment we are offering today will restore the ability of local
agencies to use CMAQ and TIFIA funding for New Starts. The amendment
will also restore an 80% federal share for Small Starts and Core
Capacity projects, which can continue to use CMAQ, STP and TIFIA
funding toward project costs.

This amendment is a compromise that is the result of Chairman
Shuster's commitment to work with us after we raised it during markup
in committee. Under this compromise, New Starts remain at 50%, and will
not be able to use STP funds. We still object to these restrictions,
but the use of CMAQ and TIFIA to fill the gap is restored. We will
continue to fight in conference to restore STP funding for New Starts,
and to ensure that highway and transit projects are treated equally.

I thank the Chairman for working with us on this compromise, and for
agreeing to correct at least part of the problem. I urge all of my
colleagues to support the amendment, and to join with us in continuing
to address this issue in the final product enacted into law.

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