HR 8853 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow Amtrak to use grant funds to satisfy non-Federal share requirements of certain grant programs, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends federal rail grant programs to allow Amtrak to use Federal grant funds to satisfy non-Federal share (matching) requirements on certain transportation infrastructure projects. Currently, Amtrak must find separate non-Federal funding sources to meet matching requirements for several grant programs. The bill provides Amtrak greater flexibility by allowing it to use existing Federal grant funds from one program to satisfy the non-Federal share requirements of other programs, subject to certain limitations and conditions specified in the legislation.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
2 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- May 15, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- May 15, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 15, 2026
Ms. McClellan (for herself and Mr. Deluzio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow Amtrak to use grant funds to satisfy non-Federal share requirements of certain grant programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Amtrak Grant Flexibility Act”.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF GRANT FUNDS TO SATISFY NON-FEDERAL SHARE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) National Infrastructure Project Assistance Grants.—Section 6701(i)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(D) Allowable use of amtrak grant funds.—
“(i) In general.—If Amtrak is the recipient of a grant under this section, Amtrak may use any Federal grant funds provided to Amtrak (other than grant funds awarded under the program and subject to any terms or conditions placed on such Federal grant funds) to carry out any activity described in subsection (h)(1), so long as the involvement of Amtrak in such activity is not limited to monetary contributions.
“(ii) Non-applicability of limitation.— Any Federal grant funds used by Amtrak pursuant to clause (i) may not be treated as Federal assistance for purposes of subparagraph (B).”.
(b) Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Grants.—Section 22907(h) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(5) Treatment of amtrak grant funds.—If Amtrak is an applicant under this section, any Federal funds provided to Amtrak may be used to satisfy the non-Federal share requirements.”.
(c) Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grants.—Section 24911(f)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking “may use” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following: “may satisfy the non-Federal share requirements using—
“(A) tickets and other revenues generated from its operations or other sources;
“(B) with respect to a project under this section associated the National Network, grant funds issued by the Secretary to Amtrak for use in activities associated with the National Network; and
“(C) with respect to a project under this section associated the Northeast Corridor, grant funds issued by the Secretary to Amtrak for use in activities associated with the Northeast Corridor.”. <all>
Comments