The House Appropriations Committee June 8 released the draft fiscal year 2021 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill, which will be considered by the full committee this week. The legislation funds the Department of Transportation and establishes the funding levels for the Federal-aid Highway program next construction season.  For fiscal year 2021, the bill provides $61.9 billion, consistent with H.R. 2, the INVEST in America Act, for programs funded from the Highway Trust Fund, an increase of $14.7 billion above the FY 2020 enacted level. “Our nation is facing an infrastructure crisis, with crumbling roads, aging transit and rail systems, lack of affordable and safe housing, and natural disasters increasing in severity and number, exacerbated by accelerating climate changes. Meanwhile, COVID-19 is ravaging communities, revealing and deepening existing disparities, while leaving state and local governments with fewer resources and more responsibility to respond in the absence of steady leadership from the executive branch,” said House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Chairman David Price. The House bill also provides $1 billion for National Infrastructure Investments (BUILD) AND $500 million for discretionary Airport Improvement Grants.  The bill is a starting point for negotiations with the U.S. Senate on a final appropriations bill that must be sent to the President prior to September 30, the end of the current fiscal year, or Congress will be forced to enact a temporary continuing resolution.