[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E4]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TRANSPORTATION FUNDING 
                              EQUALITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 6, 2026

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia 
Transportation Funding Equality Act. This bill would make the District 
of Columbia eligible for three federal programs that support the 
development and revitalization of public transportation systems in the 
same manner as states are eligible for these programs. It would also 
make D.C. eligible in the same manner as states are eligible for a 
transportation program that would support the replacement and removal 
of infrastructure that damages the ecosystems of the Anacostia and 
Potomac rivers. D.C. residents pay the same federal taxes as residents 
of the states and therefore D.C. is almost always treated as a state in 
federal programs.
  First, this bill would treat D.C. as a state in the High-Density 
States Formula for certain grants from the Mass Transit Account of the 
Highway Trust Fund. Currently, only states are eligible for these 
grants. Second, this bill would treat D.C. as a state under the Grants 
for Buses and Bus Facilities Program. Under the formula grants for this 
program, each state is authorized to receive a minimum of $4 million 
per year, while D.C. is authorized to receive a minimum of only $1 
million per year. Third, this bill would treat D.C. as a state under 
the National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grant 
Program. Currently, only states and units of local government are 
eligible for these grants, and the U.S. Department of Transportation 
(DOT) has held that D.C. is ineligible, even though D.C. operates as 
the functional equivalent of a city, county and state. Fourth, this 
bill would treat D.C. as a state under the Safe Streets for All 
Program. Cities, counties and political subdivisions of a state are 
eligible for this program, but DOT has held that D.C. is ineligible.
  The programs in this bill fund the modernization of bus and rail 
fleets, the purchase of zero-emission transit vehicles, the improvement 
of transit station accessibility for all users, the extension of 
transit services to new communities, the replacement and repair of 
culverts and the implementation of roadway safety improvements for all 
road users.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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