WASHINGTON -- The House overwhelmingly approved legislation last week that would provide $38.3 billion for transportation projects in fiscal 1995, including $19.8 billion for highways and $4.7 billion for mass transit projects.
The amount included for highways in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1 is $162 million below currrent-year levels, but the funding included for transit projects next year is $141 million over 1994 levels.
The spending bill was approved last Thursday evening on a 362-to-59 vote and emerged from the House with only one major change from the version passed by the Appropriations Committee two weeks ago. The House voted, 234 to 192, to abolish the Interstate Commerce Commission and transfer its duties to the Transportation Department.
The commission, which has a $43 million budget, regulates bus and freight rail rates. The transportation department will receive $26 million of the budget to run the program.
The National Governors' Association charged earlier that spending levels in the overall measure are inadequate for the needs of states.
Jim Martin, who heads the association's state-federal relations office, said the lower funding levels show the Clinton Administration's lack of commitment to infrastructure investment.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to act on its version of the spending measure in the next few weeks, a Senate aide said.
