Federal Update

The White House is calling on congressional funding leaders to approve $142 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation fiscal 2023.

The request calls on Congress to approve $23.6 billion for aviation modernization, $4.45 billion for major transit projects, $3 billion for safety programs at the Federal Highway Administration, $1.5 billion for infrastructure construction grants and $230 million for port projects.

The budget request would complement funding approved in the recently enacted $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure law. That law dedicated more than $500 billion for highway-centric projects with a focus on severe weather resilience.

The Biden Administration is releasing a new Permitting Action Plan to strengthen and accelerate Federal permitting and environmental reviews by fully leveraging existing permitting authorities. Five points from the permitting plan are "(1) accelerating permitting through early cross-agency coordination to appropriately scope reviews, reduce bottlenecks, and use the expertise of sector-specific teams; (2) establishing clear timeline goals and tracking key project information to improve transparency and accountability, providing increased certainty for project sponsors and the public; (3) engaging in early and meaningful outreach and communication with Tribal Nations, States, territories, and local communities; (4) improving agency responsiveness, technical assistance, and support to navigate the environmental review and permitting process effectively and efficiently; and (5) adequately resourcing agencies and using the environmental review process to improve environmental and community outcomes."

State Update

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned on April 9th. As part of the budget deal agreed to by Governor Pritzker, Senate President Harmon, and Speaker Welch, the scheduled increase to the motor fuel tax will not take place on July 1, 2022. It will instead take place on January 1, 2023, and again on July 1, 2023. The proceeds from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Fund (1.1 cents per gallon) will go to the Transportation Renewal Fund from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023.