Statement by Secretary Buttigieg on the President’s Fiscal Year 202

The Biden-Harris Administration today released the President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2025. Following historic progress made since the President took office-with nearly 15 million jobs created and inflation down two-thirds-the Budget protects and builds on this progress by lowering costs for working families, protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, investing in America and the American people, and reducing the deficit by cracking down on fraud, cutting wasteful spending, and making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.

"President Biden's Budget allows us to continue advancing vital work underway across the country - making travel safer on every mode of transportation, strengthening supply chains to keep costs down, and modernizing our infrastructure to serve Americans for generations," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Americans are already seeing the roads being repaired, new bus and bike infrastructure being built, goods moving more smoothly from ships to shelves, and more - and this budget will accelerate all of that."

The Budget-which requests $109.3 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation-- makes critical, targeted investments in the American people that will promote greater prosperity for decades to come. At the Department of Transportation, the Budget will:

• Invest in a safer, more efficient aviation system, with more air traffic controllers: $21.8 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including funding to continue the air traffic controller hiring and training surge. With funding, the FAA has a plan to hire at least 2,000 new controllers in order to meet growing air travel demand into the future, a $3.6 billion investment to sustain the National Airspace System, and an $8 billion commitment over five years to invest in aviation safety, efficiency, and facilities, including facility replacement and radar modernization.
  
• Crack down on a corporate jet funding loophole. The President's Budget takes a critical step toward stabilizing funding for the National Airspace, which has largely been disproportionately funded by commercial air passengers. Commercial passengers pay a 7.5% tax on the prices of their tickets plus a passenger facility charge up to $4.50. Meanwhile private jets users only pay fuel surcharge taxes - roughly $0.22 per gallon of jet fuel. Private jets are 7% of flights handled by the FAA but contribute just 0.6% of the taxes that make up the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. The President's FY2025 Budget proposes a phased-in fuel fee increase to $1.06 per gallon for private jets. This increase would phase in over five years, the first update in decades.
  
• Improve our nation's roads and ensure the nation's most important bridges remain safe and operational after decades of disinvestment. $62 billion for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to modernize and improve the condition of the Nation's roads and bridges, support State safety programs, and help communities carry out infrastructure projects. This is an increase of more than 30% compared to 2021. This request includes another $675 million for the multi-billion dollar Bridge Investment Program. The additional $675 million will mean the Department can award more communities the funding they need to advance critical transportation projects and create good-paying jobs. In total, the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests a record $40 billion to fix thousands of our Nation's bridges.
  
• Increase rail safety and improve passenger rail: $3.2 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration to improve the safety and condition of railroad infrastructure and rail services that keep America's freight and passengers moving. This includes $2.5 billion for Amtrak and increasing safety inspector staffing to a record 400 inspectors and adding new staff dedicated to safety audits.
  
• Fund reliable, safe and accessible transit: $16.8 billion for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in support for urban and rural transit service, including $2.4 billion for major capital projects through the Capital Investments Grant program.

Other portions of the budget request will strengthen supply chains at our nation's ports, including an $80 million investment in the Port Infrastructure Development Program and additional investments to support shipping operations on the St. Lawrence Seaway, fund pipeline safety inspections, invest in innovation and emerging technologies, and much more.

The Budget builds on the President's record while achieving meaningful deficit reduction through measures that cut wasteful spending and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share.

For more information on the USDOT FY25 Budget highlights, please visit: https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/fiscal-year-2025-budget-highlights.

For more information on the President's FY 2025 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.