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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

November/December 2000
Washington Wrap-Up:
Federal Appropriations
Illustration by Tim Grajek
Tim Grajek/Stockart.com
The federal transportation appropriations bill for fiscal year 2000-01 has received scant notice since it was signed by President Clinton at the end of October, overshadowed as it was by Congress' end-of-session stalemate on other spending bills -- and later all but eclipsed by the prolonged uncertainty over the results of the presidential election. But the record-setting $58 billion spending plan gives transportation advocates plenty to celebrate, both nationally and here in the Bay Area.

The bill increases funding by $8 billion over last year's levels, roughly a 14 percent boost. Moreover, the final appropriations figure exceeds by almost $4 billion the amount that President Clinton had sought for transportation spending in his budget request to Congress.

Much of the increase is due to the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority (RABA) provisions in the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21). The RABA funding mechanism requires that "excess" transportation revenues -- fuel tax receipts that surpass the original TEA 21 authorization estimates -- be spent for transportation purposes rather than be permitted to pile up in the federal Highway Trust Fund.

The Bay Area fared well in the project-specific portion of the appropriations bill. Both of the region's federal New Starts projects were fully funded at requested levels -- the BART extension to San Francisco International Airport receiving $80 million, and the already-completed Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Tasman light-rail project receiving its final federal allocation of $12.25 million. In addition, the spending bill earmarked $6 million in New Starts funds for upgrades to the Altamont Commuter Express service, and $1 million for an extension of Caltrain service from Gilroy to Hollister.
- Joe Curley

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