WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to approve the fiscal year 2017 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Bill.  Overall, the bill would provide $56.5 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), along with other related agencies and programs.

“This bill moves our nation forward and makes critical investments in transportation and housing that will yield strong dividends for the American people.  The policies and funding contained in this bill will improve the safety of our roads, connect more Americans to jobs and housing opportunities, and boost critical lead poisoning prevention programs nationwide.  I wish more of my colleagues supported a more robust effort to fix our infrastructure and help communities grow the supply of affordable housing, but this legislation will serve as a critical building block for economic growth and community development,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations THUD Subcommittee, who worked alongside Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) to craft the bill.

For DOT, the bill provides critical federal highway and transit grants, makes investments in passenger and freight rail safety and infrastructure, and connects communities across the country.  For HUD, the bill funds necessary rental housing assistance programs, protects affordable housing production, and provides additional resources targeted to address homelessness.  Additionally, to help spur economic development, the bill includes investments in programs like the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), which provides federal resources to help local communities make locally-driven economic development and other infrastructure improvements that are unique to their needs.

Reed also led the effort to protect low-income families from lead-based paint hazards by including $50 million in additional funding, as well as a comprehensive series of reforms to current policies and an expansion of HUD’s oversight and enforcement capacity.

“Lead poisoning is a preventable tragedy that dramatically impacts a child’s ability to learn, and has a significant cost for our society.  This federal funding, along with needed reforms included in this bill, will make it easier for parents to protect their children from lead-based paint hazards that may be present in their homes,” said Reed, who has been a consistent supporter of lead poisoning prevention programs throughout his career.  Since 1998, Senator Reed has helped secure roughly $45 million for Rhode Island’s lead poisoning prevention initiatives. 

Overall, Senator Reed helped ensure the bill includes key national investments in several areas, including:

•  A total of $43.2 billion is provided for the Federal-Aid Highway program, which is $905 million more than fiscal year 2016, and honors the funding level authorized in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.  Rhode Island is expected to receive an allocation of $232.2 million in transportation and highway safety formula grants.

•  Transit formula grants are funded at $9.7 billion, which is $386 million more than fiscal year 2016.  These programs provide grants to State and local governments and transit authorities for investments in roads, bridges, and public transit systems.  Rhode Island is expected to receive an allocation of $38 million in transit formula grants.

•  The bill funds Amtrak at $1.42 billion, $30 million more than fiscal year 2016.  The bill also includes newly-authorized FAST Act grant programs for rail safety and state-of-good-repair investments across the country, including: $50 million for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grants, $20 million for Federal State Partnership for State of Good Repair Grants, and $15 million for Rail Restoration and Enhancement Grants.

•  The bill provides $16.4 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), $132 million more than fiscal year 2016.  The bill fully funds the President’s budget request for the FAA’s air traffic control, contract towers, aviation safety oversight, and facilities and equipment, as well as more than $1 billion in NextGen modernization efforts. 

•  TIGER grants are funded at $525 million to support significant transportation projects in a wide variety of modes, including highways and bridges, public transportation, passenger and freight railroads, and port infrastructure.  The TIGER program provides an important alternative resource for states and local governments on top of the traditional formula allocation programs that allow communities to make transformative investments in their surface transportation infrastructure, which creates jobs, generates economic development, and improves safety.  To date, Rhode Island has received over $75 million in TIGER grants for a variety of projects, including: $22.3 million for Quonset/Port of Davisville; $10.5 million for ProvPort; $10 million for the Providence Viaduct; $10 million for the Apponaug Circulator; and $9 million for a new, state-of-the-art travel plaza and welcome center at Exit 1 off Interstate 95.

•  A total of $10 million is provided for the Small Shipyard Grant Program, a $5 million increase above fiscal year 2016.  After funding for the program lapsed for two years, Senator Reed successfully led the effort to include $5 million in fiscal year 2016 to restart the program, which has helped shipyards across Rhode Island recapitalize and become more competitive.  Over the years, Rhode Island shipyards have received $4.2 million in grants from this program. 

•  The bill provides $2.3 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, including an additional $40 million in federal resources to implement a variety of new housing and services interventions for youth experiencing homelessness.  This funding will allow Continuum of Care grantees to develop and evaluate new housing and supportive services interventions for youth experiencing homelessness, and builds on the more than $42 million provided in fiscal year 2016 aimed at improving program oversight, research, and federal collaboration for initiatives targeting youth experiencing homelessness. The bill also continues the authority to allow HUD to participate in the existing Performance Partnership Pilot (P3) along with the Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Justice, to develop innovative, cost-effective, and outcome-based strategies aimed at disconnected youth.

•  The bill provides $6.6 billion to support the operation and capital management of the nation’s public housing stock.  This funding includes $1.925 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund billion, $25 million above fiscal year 2016.  This increase will allow PHAs to address lead-based paint hazards in Public Housing units, including the performance of abatements, interim controls, and risk assessments in units where children under the age of 6 reside.  The bill also provides $4.7 billion for the Public Housing Operating Fund, $175 million more than fiscal year 2016, to allow PHAs to address a majority of the estimated capital needs for 2017 in the nation’s more than 1 million public housing units. 

•  $950 million for the HOME program to create affordable housing opportunities for low-income households.  This level of funding will help States and local governments produce approximately 34,000 affordable housing units and provide rental assistance to nearly 8,000 families.  This assistance will protect an estimated $4.9 million in grants to the Cities of Pawtucket, Providence and Woonsocket, and Rhode Island Housing in FY 2017.

•  The bill includes $80 million for the Choice Neighborhoods initiative, a critical resource for community-led transformation and leveraging private investment at the local level.  It is a key tool for State and local governments to redevelop severely-distressed public or HUD-assisted housing to bring comprehensive neighborhood revitalization to devastated areas.  The bill also limits new implementation grant awards to applicants who have previously been awarded planning grants, which, for the state of Rhode Island, includes NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, in coordination with the Woonsocket Housing Authority and the Providence Housing Authority.

To help prevent lead poisoning, Senator Reed authored several key provisions of the bill that will:

•  Require HUD to amend and align its blood lead level standard for children under the age of six with the level recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

•  Increase the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes’ grants to $135 million, which would be the highest funded level since the 2010 enacted level.  This amount is $25 million more than fiscal year 2016 and the President’s budget request.  This increase in resources will produce lead-based paint hazard reductions in over 1,750 units, and provide safer homes for over 6,200 additional low and very-low income families and individuals.

•  Provide $25 million to public housing agencies (PHAs) to address lead-based paint hazards in Public Housing units.  This funding will allow PHAs to conduct abatements, interim controls, and risk assessments in units where children under the age of 6 reside.

•  Double the staffing resources for the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes’ Enforcement Division to improve enforcement of HUD’s lead-based paint regulations in public housing.

•  Increase HUD’s oversight and quality assurance of physical inspections in public and multifamily housing to ensure that PHAs and homeowners are complying with documentation and inspection requirements for lead-based paint hazards in those units.

•  Require HUD to issue clarifying guidance to PHAs on current and prospective lead regulations to help ensure that HUD-assisted units meet HUD’s lead-safe standards, and encouraging PHAs to improve tenant awareness and education, and train their maintenance and property management staff on safe inspection and abatement practices.

•  Allow for “zero bedroom dwellings,” which include studios and efficiency apartments, to be treated the same as all other housing units, making them eligible for grants to address lead-based paint hazards. This ensures that children under the age of 6 living in assisted units are afforded the same protections as those children living in other types of assisted units.

•  Direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review HUD’s policies, procedures, and processes for oversight and enforcement to ensure that PHAs comply with lead-based paint regulations.  This study will analyze existing federal programs, determine whether gaps exist in compliance and enforcement of HUD’s lead-based paint regulations, and provide recommendations.

This measure will now go to the Senate floor for consideration by the full U.S. Senate.