Continuing Resolution Pending, Possibility of More Cuts Loom
Following on the heels of the House Budget Committee announcing its discretionary spending levels target of $1.055 trillion for the remainder of FY 2011, the House Appropriations Committee this week provided some details on plans to make programmatic funding cuts to meet the $1.055 trillion target set by the Budget Committee.
In order to reach that mark the House Appropriators originally called for a $35 billion reduction from enacted FY 2010 levels and over $73 billion less than President Obama’s FY 2011 budget request. However, this afternoon House Republicans abandoned that plan and are instead going to make additional cuts in order to achieve a savings of $100 billion from President Obama’s FY 2011 budget.
The question remains what impact these cuts will have on the construction industry. That should become clear later this week when House Republicans unveil the Continuing Resolution that will fund the government through the end of FY 2011. Earlier this week, the Appropriations Committee did release a partial list of specific programmatic cuts they intend to make. After reviewing the cuts AGC determined that several of the proposed cuts have the potential to impact a number of the over 80 federal construction accounts that we track. In total there are about $4.5 billion in cuts to agencies and programs that provide funding for construction-related work. Some of the cuts include:
- Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies - $30M
- GSA Federal Buildings Fund - $1.7B
- Natural Resource Conservation Service - $60M
- Land and Water Conservation Fund - $348M
- Clean Water State Revolving Fund - $700M
- Drinking Water State Revolving Fund - $250M
- EPA Brownfields - $48M
- High Speed Rail - $1B
- FAA Next Gen - $234M
- Amtrak - $224