On April 14, the House voted 260-167 to pass H.R. 1473, which provides funding for the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 (ending Sept. 30). Later that day, the Senate voted 81-19 to pass the bill and sent it to the White House to be signed into law.
However, it has been reported that Texas may face a substantial cut in federal funding for some environmental projects as a result of the budget passing. Texas anticipates receiving $25 million less for drinking-water projects and $30 million less for clean-water (ie, sewer) projects than in fiscal 2010, according to the Texas Water Development Board.
Currently, it is not known exactly how this reduction would affect projects, “We don’t know exactly which projects will be affected and won’t for some time,” says Merry Klonower, a TWDB spokeswoman, to media reporters.
Additionally, according to the Office of State Federal Relations HR 1473 eliminates all new funding in FY 2011 for the high-speed and intercity passenger rail program (the FY 2010 appropriation was $2.5 billion, the White House requested $1.0 billion, and the final bill gives zero dollars for FY 2011). The bill also rescinds $400 million of the FY 2010 funding, which, according to the Department of Transportation, will eliminate the ability to reapportion the funds that were returned by the state of Florida which Texas, and several other states, had sent in applications for.
The bill rescinds highway contract authority to meet the Transportation-HUD budget authority target of $55.5 billion and rescinds $2.5 billion in unobligated balances of highway formula contract authority held by states. HR 1473 also makes cuts to the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Improvement Grants program (new starts and small starts).
It is not yet known how this reduction will impact Texas, TxDOT is presently working to determine how these federal cuts will affect Texas projects and operations.
Included in HR 1473 is a repeal of the Texas-specific requirements on federal education funds that were enacted as part of the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (PL 111-226). This change will allow an estimated $830 million in federal education funds to be released to Texas.
The State of Texas today submitted an application for $830 million in funds now available to the state under the federal Education Jobs bill. Upon approval of the application, the funds will be distributed to school districts using the state’s public education funding formulas, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website.