Infrastructure

President Obama's 2014 budget proposal calls for Congress to approve $50 billion in immediate spending on U.S. highways and $40 billion on long-distance railways.

Obama's proposed budget calls for spending $1.058 trillion in 2014, which would result in the nation having a $744 billion deficit, despite proposals to cut entitlement programs and raise taxes.

The president's budget calls for appropriating $76 billion for the Department of Transportation, which would be a $4 billion increase from 2012. 

Lawmakers in the House will begin working in earnest this week on the two largest pieces of transportation legislation that are expected to be approved this year.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has scheduled hearings on water resources development and Amtrak's budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

The hearings, on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are being cast as the first steps toward the passage of new bills to boost waterways and long-distance rail service in the United States.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

“Let's get this done. Let's rebuild this country we love," Obama told a Miami crowd.

The Transportation Department on Thursday released $2 billion in aid for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, four months after the storm ravaged transit systems along the Atlantic Coast.

At the same time, the agency is moving to cement new regulations governing how it would implement relief efforts in the aftermath of future disasters.  

Your morning transportation speed-read: 

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Increases in taxes paid on gasoline purchases could be included in a broader tax reform deal, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said Tuesday.

Asked specifically about an increase in the tax on gasoline that is paid by ocean barge operators, Shuster said it is difficult to get any fuel tax through Congress by itself.

But he said it could be possible in a broader package.

“In the times we live, it’s very difficult…to move something like that generally,” Shuster said in an appearance before the Arlington, Va.-based Waterways Council.

“That being said, we in the House are going to do tax reform,” he continued. “When you do a big grand package of tax reform, there may be opportunities to do that. Standing on the rooftops saying you want to increase the gas tax…is not the most effective way to do that.”

The budget unveiled Tuesday by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) would slash transportation spending in an effort to as part of an effort to cut federal spending by $5.7 trillion.

The plan from Ryan, who is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is intended to balance the federal budget by the year 2023.

The Ryan budget will serve as the House GOP's answer to President Obama's spending proposals, which are expected to be released later this year.

But whereas Obama has called repeatedly for increasing transportation, Ryan said that the DOT was rife with possibilities for cutting spending.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will work this week to finalize its list of air traffic control towers that will be closed because of the sequestration budget cuts.

The FAA has revealed a list of 173 towers to be closed next month to meet its obligation to reduce its 2013 spending by about 9 percent.

But lawmakers have already began pushing back on closing flight towers in their districts.

"We write to express our deep concern about the slated closure of the air traffic control tower at Tweed-New Haven along with 5 additional general aviation control towers throughout the State of Connecticut," Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, all Democrats, wrote in a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta last week.