Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 15, 2024
Subject
SUBJECT: STATE AND FEDERAL REPORT
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE February 2024 State and Federal Legislative Report.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Remarks Prepared by Raffi Haig Hamparian
Government Relations, Deputy Executive Officer: Federal Affairs
Chair Bass and members of the Executive Management Committee, I am pleased to provide an update on several key federal matters of interest to our agency. This report was prepared on January 26, 2024, and will be updated, as appropriate, at the Executive Management Committee meeting on February 15, 2024. The status of relevant pending legislation is monitored monthly on the Metro Government Relations Legislative Matrix.
Federal Government - Funding Bill Status
As was reported to the Board last month, Metro continues to track the status of federal spending bills - because any shutdown of the Federal Government would have an adverse impact on the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and especially the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) - which is - in part - dependent on Congressional passage of annual appropriations bills. This, in turn, would negatively impact the free flow of federal transportation dollars to our agency.
At present, the funding extension provided by Congress late last year for the federal transportation spending bill is slated to expire on March 1, 2024. Should Congress and the President be unable to reach an accord on this spending bill - along with others - the USDOT will have to enact steps that will reduce the flow of federal dollars to our agency.
However, should Congress be able to agree on a funding bill for transportation projects and programs that honors the spending levels agreed to in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - Metro can expect to receive the following funding for a number of our transit capital projects - including $478 million for the Westside...
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