The President's Budget for fiscal year 2006 (FY06), which was released on Monday, has mixed news for construction. The largest item is the most promising: the Budget recommends spending $284 billion for surface transportation between October 2004 (when the previous authorization act, known as TEA-21, expired), and September 2009 (the end of FY09). This is a huge increase from last year's budget proposal of $256 billion for the same six years. It matches the amount approved by the House last year and included in a bill introduced on Tuesday by the chairman of the House Infrastructure and Transportation Committee. The Budget would increase the obligation limitation or contract authority to $222 billion from last year's proposed $202 billion for the Highway Account and to $40 billion from $36 billion for the Mass Transit Account. The proposed “ob limit” for highways in FY06 is $34.7 billion, up 1% from FY05. The Budget proposes (without description) approximately $1 billion per year in additional Highway Trust Fund (HTF) receipts, by requiring the general fund, rather than the HTF, to pay fuel tax refunds to exempt users, such as state and local governments.
Other FY06 construction-related totals and changes from FY05 in the Budget, compiled by Engineering News-Record (February 14 issue) from Administration and Congressional sources: airport improvement grants, $3.0 billion, -14%; Energy Department environmental management, $6.5 billion, -12%; Corps of Engineers construction, $1.4 billion, -20%; Bureau of Reclamation water/related resources, $802 million, -7%; Department of Defense (DOD) environmental restoration, $1.4 billion, +1%; Environmental Protection Agency water infrastructure, $3.0 billion, -18%, and Superfund, $1.3 billion, +2%; General Services Administration construction, $640 million, -10%, and repairs and alterations, $1 billion, +5%; State Department embassy security, construction, and maintenance, $1.5 billion, no change; Bureau of Prisons buildings and facilities, $170 million, -10%; DOD military family housing, $2 billion, +21%, and other military construction, $5.3 billion, -5%.