Boswell Introduces Surface Transportation Savings Act of 2011 to Pay Down Deficit

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Leonard Boswell introduced the Surface Transportation Savings Act of 2011 to rescind $161.2 million in funds not spent by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and to use the savings to reduce the nation’s budget deficit.

“I introduced the Surface Transportation Savings Act to reclaim $161.2 million in federal dollars that are just sitting out there unused and to put them toward paying down our nation’s huge budget deficit. This is common-sense cost-cutting,” said Boswell, a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “There is no question that we need to continue to upgrade our highways, bridges, rail, and public transit systems in order to keep goods and people moving across the country. However, these are funds that are one to two years-old that were allocated and not needed. This should be the first step we take in every department to reduce government spending and address our nation’s deficit.”

The Surface Transportation Savings Act rescinds $161.2 million in contract authority funds that the NHTSA and FTA did not use for FY2010 and FY2011 programs and that cannot be reallocated to other transportation projects. Specifically, this legislation reclaims the following excess contract authority:

–          $124.2 million of contract authority from NHSTA’s safety belt performance grants program;

–          $24.4 million of contract authority from FTA’s formula and bus grant programs;

–          $9.5 million of contract authority authorized for NHTSA’s administrative expenses;

–          $3 million of contract authority authorized for NHTSA’s highway safety research and development program; and

–          $127,000 of amounts authorized for NHTSA to carry out the National Driver Register.