THUD appropriations bill advances to full committee

A House subcommittee approved the 2025 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill on Thursday, June 27.

The bill, which proposes spending limits and restrictions on the Department of Transportation, will now move to a full committee markup hearing during the week of July 8.

“The bill prioritizes transportation safety – on our railways, roads and airways,” said Rep. Steve Womack, chairman of the THUD subcommittee. “And we ensure a responsible safety net with housing support for our most vulnerable citizens – especially the elderly, the disabled, veterans and the working poor.”

Trucking provisions

Of interest to truckers, the 210-page bill earmarks $200 million for truck parking projects.

The bill also includes a provision aimed at stopping the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from moving forward with its rulemaking to mandate speed-limiting devices on commercial motor vehicles.

The THUD provision is another attempt to stop the controversial rulemaking from going into effect. A standalone bill, the DRIVE Act, has already been introduced in the House and Senate. The DRIVE Act would simply prevent FMCSA from moving forward with the rulemaking.

In 2022, FMCSA issued an advance notice of supplemental proposed rulemaking that considered requiring most commercial motor vehicles to install speed limiters. While a specific speed was not introduced, safety groups have called for speeds as low as 60 mph. Considering that speed limits are as fast as 85 mph in portions of the United States, the rule would create drastic speed differentials between tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles.

FMCSA received more than 15,000 comments with the majority coming from truck drivers who are opposed to a mandate. The agency had planned on moving forward with a notice of proposed rulemaking, but no action is expected in 2024.

Other notable provisions include prohibitions on electronic logging devices in agricultural operations, on driver-facing cameras in the under-21 pilot program and on FMCSA’s attempts to alter rest break preemption waivers.

In total, the bill provides $106.6 billion in budgetary resources to improve the safety and efficiency of the nation’s transportation system.

That includes $2.56 billion for transportation safety agencies:

• $909 million for the FMCSA
• $1.27 billion for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• $384.5 million for the Pipelines and Hazardous Material Safety Administration

The 210-page bill can be found here. LL