The two-year budget deal, unveiled earlier this week and passed by the House of Representatives last night, will curtail “sequestration” cuts to government spending planned for this year. Although it faced some opposition, it passed with a wide margin (332-94) and will move to the Senate for a vote next week. So what would the deal mean for transportation?

If the budget deal passes the Senate next week, House and Senate lawmakers would then write bills funding the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (as well as the rest of the government), and try to negotiate the differences. By adopting higher spending levels, the budget deal would provide more room for Congress to work with but would not change the fact that there are large philosophical differences between the different chambers of Congress. When the two houses tried writing appropriations bills earlier this year, the result was a Senate bill that boosted funding for transportation and a House bill that starved it.

By contrast, if the budget deal fails to pass the Senate, a second round of sequester cuts will take effect, likely through a continuing resolution. As Transportation for America explained earlier this year, road and transit formula funds are protected from sequestration cuts. However, the Highway Trust Fund would go bankrupt a little earlier and funding for Amtrak, New Starts and TIGER would all see cuts.

In other words, without a budget deal, we can expect a future that looks like the status quo, but with additional cuts. With a deal, Congress will have an opportunity to make significant changes to program funding levels. Programs like Amtrak, New Starts, and the TIGER program could be held at current funding levels, see a funding increase, or be cut — which means that advocates will still need to watch Congress’ actions carefully.

Uncertain Future for Transit Commuting Benefits

Although there’s broad support for transit commuter benefit parity, it seems likely it won’t be addressed until next year. According to a report in Forbes:

An estimated 2.7 million families (700,000 in the New York metropolitan area) gain from the transit break, so there is hope for renewing the break. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y.) held a press conference last month at New York’s Grand Central Station promoting his bill, the Commuter Parity Act of 2013, which would extend the break through 2014; it’s getting to be a routine issue for his office. The aim is to have that bill made part of any tax reform or tax extenders package. But House Ways & Means Chair Dave Camp (R.-Mich.) said last week that tax extenders won’t be addressed until 2014.

This means transit commuters who are currently allowed to set aside up to $245/month in pretax salary would see that number drop to $130 next year. Meanwhile, the amount that can be set aside for parking each month would increase to $250.