After months of negotiations and a historic 35-day partial government shutdown, the federal government has finally wrapped up work on the fiscal year (FY) 2019 appropriations process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump recently signed into law a $333 billion,\nseven-bill appropriations package<\/a> that\nfunded the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development,\nInterior, Justice, State, and Transportation. The package follows five\nappropriations passed in September 2018 that totaled $991 billion, providing\nfunding for the legislative branch and the Departments of Defense, Education,\nEnergy, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our initial analysis of the FY 2019\nappropriations bills signals positive news for regions! The bills include level\nfunding or additional appropriations for many of the priorities we have\nadvocated for over the past year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BUILD Grants: <\/strong>The BUILD program\nwas funded at $900 million, a decrease of $600 million from FY 2018 but still\nwell above previous years funding (which ranged from $500 to $600 million). One\nmajor change is that half of that amount must go to projects in rural areas. Up\nto $15 million can be awarded in planning grants (though no such awards were\nmade last year). Up to twenty percent of the funds can be used to pay for\nsubsidy and administrative costs of Transportation Infrastructure Finance and\nInnovation Act (TIFIA) or Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing\n(RRIF) credit assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n STBGP: <\/strong>Of $3.5 billion in supplemental\nhighway funding from the general fund, about $2.7 billion will be apportioned\nas Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) funding (up from just\nunder $2.0 billion last year). <\/p>\n\n\n\n CIG Program: <\/strong>The Capital\nInvestment Grants (CIG) Program received $2.6 billion, a decrease of $92.3\nmillion. This includes $1.4 billion for \u201cNew Starts,\u201d $530 million for \u201cCore\nCapacity,\u201d and $527 million for \u201cSmall Starts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Transit: <\/strong>Transit formula grants through the\nHighway Trust Fund increase by $206 million compared to last year, but\nsupplemental funding for the Transit Infrastructure Grants Program was reduced\nby $134 million (to $700 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rail: <\/strong>The Federal Railroad Administration\nreceived $2.9 billion. Amtrak received level funding at $1.9 billion, with $650\nmillion allocated for capital projects along the Northeast Corridor. The bill\nalso includes funding for State of Good Repair grants ($400 million) and\nconsolidated rail infrastructure and safety improvement grants ($255 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n FAA: <\/strong>The Federal Aviation Administration\n(FAA) was funded at $17.5 billion – $549 million below the FY 2018 enacted\nlevel and $1.3 billion above the president\u2019s request. Airport Improvement\nProgram grants received an additional $500 million this year to make critical\nairport infrastructure investments and Essential Air Service (EAS) received an\nincrease of more than $40 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drones: <\/strong>The package provided $56 million for\ndrone integration and $24 million for drone research. It also directed the FAA\nto expand the Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program without\nincurring additional costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ACL<\/strong>:<\/strong> The Administration for Community Living (ACL)\nwas funded at $2.2 billion, a $25 million increase from fiscal year 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Senior Workforce:<\/strong> The Senior Community Service Employment\nProgram remains level at $400 million, rejecting the Trump administration\u2019s\nproposal to eliminate the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OAA, Title III:<\/strong> The Older Americans Act<\/em> (OAA)\nTitle III programs were either level funded or saw small increases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boost to Census\nFunding: <\/strong>The Census Bureau is\nfunded at $3.8 billion, an increase of more than $1 billion from fiscal year\n2018. With about $1 billion in carry-over funding from the previous fiscal\nyear, it\u2019s a big step to ramp up activities related to the 2020 census. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CDBG and HOME: <\/strong>The Community Development Block Grant Program\n(CDBG) received level funding at $3.3 billion. The HOME Investment Partnerships\nProgram was funded at $1.250 billion, a decrease of $112 million. The Trump\nadministration proposed to eliminate funding for both programs in fiscal years\n2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SSBG & CSBG:<\/strong> The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) received\nlevel funding at $1.7 billion. The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)\nreceived a $10 million increase. The Trump Administration recommended that both\nprograms be zeroed out in their FY 2019 budget request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n State Workforce\nFormula Grants: <\/strong>Title I \u2013 State\nFormula Grants of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act <\/em>(WIOA)\nreceived level funding at $2.8 billion. The breakdown of each grant category\nis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n EDA:<\/strong> The Economic Development Administration\n(EDA) received a $2.5 million increase. This allocation ignores the Trump\nadministration\u2019s recommendation to eliminate funding for the agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homeless Assistance Grants:<\/strong> The Homeless Assistance Grants were funded at $2.64 billion, a\n$12.3 million increase from last year. $80 million was also allocated by the\nappropriations package to programs addressing youth homelessness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Housing Choice Vouchers:<\/strong> Housing Choice Vouchers received level funding at $22.6 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brownfields Program: <\/strong>The Brownfields\nProject Grant Program received a $7 million increase in FY 2019 for a total of\n$87 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Energy Efficiency and\nRenewable Energy Program:<\/strong> The\nU.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)\nProgram is funded at $2.38 billion, an increase of $57 million from the last\nfiscal year and $1.68 billion above the president\u2019s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LIHEAP:<\/strong> The package included a $50 million\nincrease for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for a total\nof $3.69 billion. The Trump administration has recommended zeroing out funding\nfor this program in fiscal years 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FEMA: <\/strong>The Federal\nEmergency Management Agency (FEMA) received $16.6 billion in net discretionary\nfunding, an increase of $4.2 billion over last year. Also included in the\npackage: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Flood Insurance and Mapping: <\/strong>The Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program received\n$262.5 million, the same amount as last fiscal year. The National Flood\nInsurance Fund, which supports the National Flood Insurance Program, received $202\nmillion (a decrease of $1 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rural Development:<\/strong> Rural development programs received $3.01\nbillion, totaling $10.8 million more than the previous fiscal year and $1.21 billion\nmore than the president\u2019s request. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rural Housing and Rental Assistance Programs:<\/strong> $1 billion in single family housing direct\nloans and $230 million in multi-family housing guarantees were provided. Rural\nHousing Assistance Grants received $45 million ($15 million for rural housing\npreservation and $30 million for very low-income housing repair). Congress\nprovided $1.3 billion for the Rental Assistance Program, which is expected to\nfund all expiring FY 2018 contracts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rural Community\nFacilities Program: <\/strong>This program received level funding at $2.8 billion for direct loans to\nhelp fund rural hospitals, schools, and health clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New Broadband Loan and\nGrant Program:<\/strong> The U.S.\nDepartment of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service received an additional\n$550 million for the Rural Development Broadband ReConnect Program, a new\nbroadband loan and grant pilot program that was created in the FY 2018 omnibus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Substance Abuse Crisis\nRelief: <\/strong>Congress provided enhanced support for treatment and prevention efforts\nacross the U.S. tackling the substance abuse crisis. This included: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Distance Learning\n& Telemedicine<\/strong>: $16 million was appropriated for Rural Development Distance Learning\n& Telemedicine Grants to help rural communities combat the crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Water State Revolving\nFunds: <\/strong>The Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Safe Drinking Water Revolving\nFund programs were level funded, receiving $1.69 billion and $1.16 billion,\nrespectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n WIFIA Grants:<\/strong> The Water\nInfrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Grants program received a $5\nmillion increase from FY 2018, totaling $68 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WRDA Grants: <\/strong>Congress provided\n$65 million in grants authorized by the 2016 Water Resources Development Act<\/em> to improve drinking water in small,\ndisadvantaged communities; schools and child care centers; and areas with lead in\ntheir drinking water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Water and Waste\nDisposal Programs: <\/strong>The Rural Utilities Service Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program\nAccount saw a mixed bag of funding amounts in FY 2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click on item to jump to section<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Transportation<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Aging\nPrograms<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Census Bureau<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Community and Economic Development<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Energy & Environment<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
FEMA\/Disaster Response and Recovery<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Rural Development<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Substance Abuse Crisis<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Water Infrastructure, Drinking Water, & Waste Disposal<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n