ALDOT: full-year continuing resolution rolls FY2025 IIJA funding back to FY2024 levels; NEVI allocation drops to zero

Ed Austin, chief engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation, told the Joint Transportation Oversight Committee on Oct. 25 that a full-year continuing resolution (CR) from Congress will revert FY2025 federal highway funding to the FY2024 authorization level, reducing IIJA-era new-program allocations for Alabama.

That rollback means the federal totals in ALDOT’s FY2025 fund allocation plan will be “pretty close” to last year’s figures, Austin said, and earmarks scheduled for 2025 under IIJA will not be funded because there is no new authorization for the year.

The change affects several categories in ALDOT’s four-year fund allocation sheet. Austin summarized the department’s programmed state public road and bridge total as $550,000,000 for the year and explained the federal breakdown: roughly $137.5 million in aid that goes directly to cities, counties and MPOs; GARVEE bond debt payments tied to prior programs; the five legacy federal programs (safety, state route resurfacing, system enhancement, bridge replacement and interstate maintenance); and the newer IIJA-created programs shown in ALDOT’s materials.

“Instead of delaying an appropriation, this time Congress could not come to a consensus on a number,” Austin said. “They did what’s called a full-year continuing resolution, which means we do have a full year’s money, but it rolls back to the ’24 figure.”

Austin pointed to specific impacts in the department presentation: NEVI (the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program) funding that had been administered in Alabama through ADECA is shown as zero for FY2025 and FY2026 because the IIJA-authorized increases are not available under the CR. Ferry-boat funding also had not been allocated as of the presentation and was left at zero pending federal clarification; ALDOT staff said typical ferry allocations are on the order of a few hundred thousand dollars annually.

On state-funded items, Austin said federal-aid matching payments exceed $191 million and that state funds devoted to match plus state maintenance together account for roughly $190–195 million — about 70% of ALDOT’s state fund programming. He listed departmental administrative overhead (about $95 million), county engineer salary support codified in the Rebuild Alabama Act (just under $9 million) and longstanding industrial access at $11 million as parts of the $550 million package.

Austin also reviewed GARVEE (grant-anticiPation revenue) bond debt: two GARVEE debt payments for ATRIP and the Central Business District projects total “a little over $107 million” in federal-aid-related payments, with terms in the 15–20 year range depending on the issuance.

Committee members asked about practical consequences. Representative Wilcox asked whether a “pay-as-you-go” approach — which some counties use — could reduce interest costs; Austin responded that while pay-as-you-go can work for resurfacing or smaller bridge work, large “mega projects” become difficult to fund without bonding. Austin offered to seek information from Tennessee staff about their pay-as-you-go practice and report back.

Austin also reminded members that the ALDOT STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement Program), the federally required four-year program, is maintained on ALDOT’s website, updated frequently (about monthly) for cost changes and amendments, and is searchable by county, region and project type.

Why it matters: the CR-driven rollback constrains new IIJA-era program spending Alabama expected to receive for FY2025, affects local recipients of federal aid, and pauses some new-program allocations such as NEVI pending future Congressional action.

The committee did not take a formal vote on funding changes during the meeting; ALDOT staff said the department will continue to monitor federal guidance and report back to the committee as allocations are clarified.