House releases $44B DOT, HUD budget

{mosads}“This bill is an example of the current budgetary trade-offs facing our nation – the need to make deep cuts to meet our fiscal constraints and address the deficit, while maintaining funding for important government programs and services,” Rogers said in a statement.

“This legislation reflects this dual goal, making the best use of limited tax dollars by focusing investments on transportation infrastructure critical to our economy and maintaining housing options for our most vulnerable citizens, while reducing or eliminating funding for lower-priority programs,” Rogers continued.

The GOP-led Appropriations Committee’s budget includes $13.9 billion less in spending for transportation and HUD programs than President Obama requested in his proposal for the 2014 budget.

House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Tom Latham (R-Iowa) said the bill was “sound” and “bipartisan.”

“This appropriations process has continued to show that we can act in a bipartisan fashion to fund our most vital programs with the need to reduce the deficit in mind and limited resources at our disposal,” Latham said in a statement announcing the proposal.

“Although the nation is operating under tight budget constraints, we still have produced a sound bill that meets our highest transportation and housing priorities in a fiscally responsible way,” Latham continued.