Current temporary funding for U.S. DOT and most other federal agencies expires Oct. 31 under the terms of a continuing resolution enacted in late September. Congress has finished only four of the 12 annual appropriations bills. With floor action slow in the Senate, that chamber's chief appropriator is now beginning to discuss the need for an "omnibus" bill soon that would bundle the remaining spending bills into one package.

The next continuing resolution is expected to fund the government until Dec. 15, CongressDaily reported Thursday. An omnibus measure would likely then follow to fund agencies until Sept. 30, 2010, the end of the fiscal year.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-HI, said Tuesday he expects an omnibus will be necessary. With the Senate expected to take up a massive healthcare reform package soon, the chamber will not have time to finish separate consideration of all appropriations bills by year's end. Inouye said his goal is to complete an omnibus package by Dec. 1.

The appropriations bill funding U.S. DOT and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HR 3288) has been passed in different form by both chambers. The Senate requested a conference committee Sept. 17, but the House has so far not appointed its conferees. The reason for the delay is uncertain as the DOT/HUD bill does not contain some of the politically controversial items that have slowed progress on other appropriations legislation this fall.

Rail Advocates Press for More Money

One of the differences in the House and Senate versions of the DOT/HUD bill is the funding level for high-speed rail for Fiscal Year 2010. The House has approved $4 billion while the Senate included $1.2 billion. (House appropriators indicated that a portion of the $4 billion would be transferred to a national infrastructure bank proposed by the administration if Congress should authorize such a bank.) President Barack Obama had asked for $1 billion in FY 2010 to supplement the $8 billion high-speed rail received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Rail supporters have been lobbying key senators to get them to agree to the higher funding level, The Hill reported. The coalition pushing for more money includes U.S. PIRG, the American Public Transportation Association, and Transportation for America. They argue additional funding for high-speed rail will encourage more private-sector investment and create thousands of new jobs.

Alex Glass, a spokesman for Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-WA, said the senator favors providing more funding for highways, railroad safety, and multimodal grants.

In addition to funding high-speed rail, "We also need to improve the conditions of our roads and bridges, to invest in public transportation, and to create an overall transportation network," Glass said.