Bush’s Budget Maintains Road Funding at $33.6 Billion

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ighway-construction spending would match this year's level of $33.6 billion under the fiscal 2005 budget President Bush sent to Congress on Monday.

The road-spending plan is the largest piece of a proposed $58.7 billion Transportation Department budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. That's an increase of less than 1% from the current year's $58.6 billion budget, the Washington Post reported.

The overall budget sent to Congress would boost spending by 3.5% to $2.4 trillion.

DOT's budget more than doubles funds for road-safety programs administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The increase to $689 million from $298 million includes $456 million for highway-safety grants to states, Bloomberg said.

Bush's budget also increases spending on homeland security programs by 14% to about $48 billion. That includes an 11% increase in FBI funding for counterterrorism and a 9% increase for the Coast Guard, the Associated Press reported.

A total of $381 million was set aside for food safety, up from $79 million in the previous fiscal year. In addition, the Transportation Security Administration would get a 20% increase in its budget to $5.3 billion, news services said.

Funding for the Federal Railroad Administration, which inspects freight railroads and disburses funds to Amtrak, would be cut 25% to $1.09 billion from $1.45 billion. The rail budget includes a reduction of 26% in funding for Amtrak to $900 million, the Associated Press said.

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