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Last week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced an amended version of its Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) reauthorization bill.

Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA LU) (H.R. 3550) would provide $275 billion in transit and highway program funding through fiscal-year 2009, including $51.5 billion for public transportation, according to America Public Transportation Association’s Washington Report.

The bill would earmark funds for 193 New Start projects, including 23 with Full Funding Grant Agreements, 41 that have been authorized for final design, and 139 that have been authorized for preliminary engineering and alternatives analysis. New Starts would continue to receive an 80 percent federal share.

TEA LU also includes a provision that would enable Congress to amend the legislation in the future to increase funding levels.

The bill is scheduled to be discussed on the House floor tomorrow. Once a version of the House bill is passed, a conference committee will discuss TEA LU and the Senate’s TEA-21 reauthorization bill — Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act (S. 1072), which would provide $318 billion for surface transportation programs, including $56.5 billion for transit.

The current short-term TEA-21 extension expires April 30.