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Reconciliation: Good for community transit

Chris Zeilinger
Community Transportation Association of America
Congress is considering legislation that is intended to rein in federal spending and reduce the budget deficits that have accumulated over the past few years.

The House version of this "budget reconciliation" bill contains provisions that break new ground in recognizing the essential value of public and community transportation to our nation's lower income families, and paves the way toward helping ensure that these people who most need community transportation will be able to get to vital health care, child care and supportive services.

Two sections of the House budget reconciliation bill are especially important to us.

Sec. 3125 would amend the Medicaid program to allow states to provide non-emergency medical transportation through brokerages or other arrangements. The federal share of these expenses would be at the generally higher "medical services" rate, but with no requirements for states to have "freedom-of-choice" or other waivers.

This change will allow more Medicaid beneficiaries to get the transportation they need to and from doctors and other medical services, and will allow this transportation to be provided in ways that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated will actually save the federal government some money.

The Community Transportation Association acknowledges the leadership shown by Representative Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee, along with our private- and public-sector members in Georgia who worked diligently at helping several key Congressional offices and committees recognize the importance of allowing this critical mobility service to be offered in a cost-effective manner.

Sec. 8117 of the House budget reconciliation bill is part of a complete reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. There are numerous transit-friendly provisions of the House TANF legislation, but this section is the most significant, as it would allow states to use TANF funds to help support transportation and child care services without regard to the time limits associated with other TANF benefits or expenses.

These provisions, and the rest of the House budget reconciliation bill, first were drafted by eight different House committees, and then assembled and approved by the House Budget Committee on Thursday, Nov. 3. House floor action on this legislation is expected in the coming week.

The Senate passed its budget reconciliation bill earlier this week (week of Oct. 31). The Senate bill does not include any TANF reauthorization. Although the Senate's budget bill does make some modifications to the Medicaid program, it does not include the transportation-specific language of the House bill.

Thus, in order for that language to become law, the House has to pass its budget bill, and then maintain those provisions when House and Senate negotiators meet to hammer out a conference agreement.

Published 11-11-05