Senate Hearing on 2020 Transportation Budget and Safety Oversight

• •The proposed 2020 budget cuts the Department of Transportation's discretionary budget by $5 billion compared to 2019 levels.
• •The budget includes $1 billion for BUILD Grants and $2 billion for INFRA Grants.
• •The budget proposes $300 million for a competitive bridge program for rural bridge repairs.
• •The budget allocates $3.3 billion for aviation facilities and equipment, the highest amount ever requested.
• •The Maritime Administration budget request includes $205 million for a training ship, which is $95 million less than the $300 million provided in previous years.
• •The FAA is establishing a new Office of Innovation to manage new aviation technologies.
• •The FAA grounded the Boeing 737 Max following crashes involving Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air.
• •The Inspector General has been requested to audit the FAA's certification process for the Boeing 737 Max.
• •The Highway Trust Fund faces looming insolvency with no path forward provided in the current budget request after the FAST Act expires in 2020.
• •Motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the first half of 2018 decreased by 3 percent compared to the same period in 2017.

The proposed 2020 budget includes a $5 billion cut to the Department of Transportation's discretionary funding, which could impact national infrastructure projects and federal transportation programs.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.