Appropriations for FY2005: Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies (CRS Report for Congress)
Premium Purchase PDF for $24.95 (100 pages)
add to cart or
subscribe for unlimited access
Pro Premium subscribers have free access to our full library of CRS reports.
Subscribe today, or
request a demo to learn more.
| Release Date |
Dec. 21, 2004 |
| Report Number |
RL32308 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
David Randall Peterman and John Frittelli, Resources, Science, and Industry Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The FY2005 Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies appropriations bill was passed
as
Division H of P.L. 108-447 , an omnibus appropriations bill, and was signed into law on December
8, 2004. The bill provides $90.6 billion for Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies.
However, the bill also includes an across-the-board rescission of 0.80%, which will reduce the
Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies funding by approximately $725 million. This
will make the final figure $89.9 billion, slightly less than FY2004's $90.3 billion but more
than the
Administration's request for FY2005.
For FY2005, the Administration requested $88.9 billion for the Departments of Transportation
and the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President, and a variety of independent agencies. This
was $1.6 billion (1.7%) less than the amount enacted for FY2004.
On September 22, 2004, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5025 , the
Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005. The Committee on
Appropriations had recommended $89.9 billion, an increase of $0.9 billion over the
President's
request and $495 million below the FY2004 level. During the House floor debate on the bill,
sections of the bill appropriating funds for unauthorized programs were struck. Since at the time of
the floor debate the surface transportation programs were not authorized for FY2005, the result was
that funding for federal highway, highway safety, and transit programs was eliminated, as was
funding for Amtrak and the Airport Improvement Program. In the end, the House cut some $47
billion in transportation funding from the $89.9 billion bill reported by the Committee. The
appropriation subcommittee chairman assured members that this funding would be restored in
conference (for this reason, the tables in this bill do not reflect these cuts). The House bill included
several provisions similar to provisions that were included in the FY2004 House bill and that proved
controversial. These included setting the FY2005 federal civilian pay increase at the same level the
Administration requested for the military (3.5% for FY2005), limits on the outsourcing of
government work, and loosening of sanctions on Cuba.
On September 15, 2004 the Senate Committee on Appropriations reported out S. 2806 , their FY2005 Transportation, Treasury and General Government Appropriations bill. The
Committee recommended $90.6 billion in funding and included provisions aligning the FY2005
federal civilian pay increase with that of the military and limiting outsourcing of government work.
This full Senate never acted on this bill.
The conferees dropped the provisions limiting outsourcing of government work and relaxing
restrictions on Cuba. Final passage of the bill was delayed to allow Congress to delete a provision
that would have given appropriators' access to individual tax return information. This report
will
not be updated.
