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Last week, both the House and Senate appropriations committees approved their respective versions of the fiscal-year 2008 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

The House version proposes $9.7 billion for federal transit programs, an 8.4 percent increase compared with FY2007 and the full amount authorized under SAFETEA-LU.

The Senate version would provide $9.6 billion for transit in FY2008, a 6.9 percent increase compared with FY2007, but $134 million less than the level authorized by SAFETEA-LU. The committee froze New Starts and Small Starts program dollars at the FY2007 level of $1.56 billion; under SAFETEA-LU, the program is authorized to receive $1.7 billion in FY2008.