- Senate Spending Bill Excludes $38 Billion In Advance Appropriations For Transportation
- Senators Request FMCSA Documents To Illuminate Data Discrepancies, Enforcement Downturn
- Idaho Transportation Leadership Changes Follow Several Recent Retirements
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Senate Spending Bill Excludes $38 Billion In Advance Appropriations For Transportation
“The stopgap spending bill supported by an overwhelming majority of U.S. senators [this week] does not address tens of billions in expiring transportation funding, leaving states facing a massive effective budget cut starting Oct. 1,” News From The States reports.
The continuing resolution would reauthorize most highway and transit programs through December 11, but advance appropriations tied to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that are set to expire on September 30 would not be renewed. They total about $66.2 billion, with roughly $38.6 billion tied to transportation.
Although the continuing resolution enjoys bipartisan support, debate over renewal of the IIJA programs is stymied by partisan divisions. “Democrats historically seek parity between non-defense and defense spending, but have relaxed that stance while the extra infrastructure funds have been flowing. Without that additional funding, Democrats might be less amenable to compromise.”
Seventy percent of the advance appropriations would fund 25 competitive grant programs that would benefit “ports, large highway and rail projects, transit station upgrades, roadway safety and other projects.”
The remaining 30 percent of that funding, $10.8 billion, would flow to states through 10 formula-based programs geared toward different modes of transportation. Of that amount, half would go toward FHWA’s bridge repair program. Other programs that would be affected fund airport construction, maintenance of transit system infrastructure, electric vehicle charging, highways in Appalachian states, truck safety inspections, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration programs.
The article includes a high-level analysis of the complicated and partisan negotiations surrounding spending, including several potential alternative paths to reinstating the transportation funding if the stopgap budget is passed without it. Those options include the long-term surface transportation bill and full-year appropriations to be negotiated this fall.
Last month, the National Association of Counties joined a broad coalition of business, labor, municipal, and state DOT stakeholders that signed a letter advocating an extension of the supplemental funding. However, the article predicts that the substance of spending negotiations may not deepen until the midterm elections are settled in November.
Company and Agency Financial Issues And Reports Economic & Social Considerations Affecting Transportation Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance US Department of Transportation (USDOT) US Gov't Transportation Funding US Infrastructure Funding And Financing InitiativesSenators Request FMCSA Documents To Illuminate Data Discrepancies, Enforcement Downturn
Citing an investigative report by the news outlets ProPublica and WBUR, US Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Edward Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with nine requests for documents and data. The requests were prompted by the reports findings that the agency’s database of crashes involving large trucks and buses is incomplete and that enforcement actions have declined precipitously under the current Trump administration.
According to a Cantwell news release about the letter, “The ProPublica/WBUR investigation centered on an April 2025 school bus accident in Boston that killed a kindergartner after he was dropped off on the wrong side of the street. The driver was hired and trained by transnational bus company Transdev, and the investigation found that 42 fatal crashes involving Transdev over the past 10 years were missing from FMCSA records. ProPublica and WBUR also found that FMCSA’s own instructions to law enforcement about the attribution of a crash to a particular company was left to the discretion of the individual police officer, directly contributing to highly variable and unreliable records.”
The news release states that FMCSA’s own data show that enforcement cases dropped from nearly 4,000 in 2024 to about 1,400 in 2025, a 65 percent decline.
Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) US Department of Transportation (USDOT)Idaho Transportation Leadership Changes Follow Several Recent Retirements
According to a news release, recent retirements have prompted several leadership changes at the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).
Laila Kral, PE, will become the department’s chief deputy. She comes to ITD after 14 years at the state’s Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC). Most recently, Ms. Kral served as the council’s administrator.
Lisa McClellan, a 22-year ITD employee, has been appointed ITD chief of administration. She most recently served as ITD’s Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) administrator.
CJ Kendrick will replace Ms. McClellan as DMV administrator. He has been with the division for more than 13 years, most recently serving as deputy administrator.
ITD official Mollie McCarty will assume a newly created ITD role to advance statewide leadership in transportation safety.
Last month, Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) appointed Alberto Gonzalez as ITD director following the retirement of department veteran Scott Stokes. Mr. Gonzalez was the state’s Chief Information Officer and Administrator of the Idaho Office of Information Technology Services before moving to ITD.
The news release notes that other recent ITD retirees include Dave Tolman, former chief administrative officer, and Brenda Williams, who served as chief innovation experience officer.
Appointments-Promotions-Retirements Idaho Idaho Transportation DepartmentSubscription Information
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