WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate Appropriations Committee today voted unanimously to advance the fiscal year 2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill.  This measure would provide a total of $107.8 billion in total budgetary resources for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and $70.1 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD).

U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a leading member of the THUD Appropriations Subcommittee, helped include several infrastructure and housing priorities to benefit Rhode Island in the bill.

“This bipartisan bill responsibly funds America’s most critical transportation and housing needs.  It provides critical investments to improve our transportation and housing infrastructure that will help more Americans have an affordable place to live and better access to safe and reliable transportation options.  It will help strengthen our economy, create jobs, and provide federal funding to upgrade our roads, bridges, airports, seaports, transit systems, and housing infrastructure,” said Senator Reed.

Reed noted that the bill would help Rhode Island improve the safety, reliability, and efficiency of our roads, bridges, and public transportation networks, including airports, trains, buses, and port infrastructure.

Overall, the Senate bill would provide 2024 spending levels of $60.1 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, $20.3 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration, $16.9 billion for the Federal Transit Administration, $3.4 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration, and $1.2 billion for the Maritime Administration, a $308 million increase over last year.

Senator Reed led successful efforts to include $1.145 billion for bridges in the bill.  As a result of funding and formulas, coupled with investments in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Senator Reed estimates that Rhode Island should receive around $110 million for bridge work in FY 24.

Reed also helped include $800 million for competitive RAISE grants, which Reed first helped establish back in 2009. RAISE grants — which were originally created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as TIGER grants — can be used for a wide variety of infrastructure projects with local or regional impact.

The bill increases the supply of affordable housing, invests in communities’ surrounding needs, and eases burdens on very low-income households.

“The Senate THUD bill provides needed investments to expand affordable housing opportunities and offers a strong, bipartisan blueprint we can build on,” continued Reed.  “Proven programs like rental assistance, CDBG, and HOME are critically important to families and communities and have demonstrated their effectiveness in Rhode Island.”

To help expand affordable housing opportunities, the bill invests in key rental assistance and housing production.  This includes $31.7 billion for tenant vouchers, as well as $15.8 billion in subsidies tied to specific rental units.  It also includes $3.9 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants. 

To advance community-driven investment, the committee approved $4.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), as well as $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program which has helped preserve approximately 1.35 million affordable homes nationally.

Reed, Rhode Island’s only member of the Appropriations Committee, says the THUD bill contains key ‘Congressionally directed spending’ (also known as ‘earmarks’) that he successfully included to fund numerous projects across Rhode Island.

Senator Reed secured nearly $34 million in earmarks for Rhode Island in the Senate bill, including:

  • $5 million for Repairs to the Newport Cliff Walk
  • $3.8 million for Pedestrian- and Bicycle-Safe Street Improvements in Pawtucket
  • $3 million for Amos House to Create Affordable Housing for Abuse Victims
  • $3 million to Update the Central Falls Public Safety Complex
  • $3 million for the Ten Mile River Greenway
  • $2.08 million to Alleviate Roadway Flooding in Johnston
  • $2 million for Pierce Field in East Providence
  • $2 million for the Travelers Aid Tower, Housing Expansion at Crossroads Rhode Island
  • $1.95 million for Knightsville Park in Cranston
  • $1.7 million for Streetscape Improvements in Centredale
  • $1.2 million to Resurface the Washington Secondary Bike Path
  • $1 million for Pawtucket Housing Authority Upgrades to Galego Court
  • $1 million for the Sheridan Village Housing Development in Olneyville
  • $875,000 for Trinity Repertory Company to Make Accessibility Improvements
  • $800,000 for Pawtucket Central Falls Development to Create Affordable Housing
  • $500,000 for the Jonnycake Center to Construct Affordable Housing in South Kingstown

Now that the THUD appropriations bill has been approved at the committee level, it must pass the full U.S. Senate and be reconciled with a version making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved its version of the THUD bill along party lines.  That measure would provide significantly less funding and is nearly $9 billion below the Biden Administration’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.

After identical appropriations bills are approved by both the House and the Senate, they may be sent to the President's desk to be signed into law.