Sponsors (3)
The bill expands who and what kinds of transportation and space‑related projects can receive federal grants and aims to leverage nonfederal investment, but it introduces funding and implementation uncertainty and may disadvantage low‑resourced jurisdictions that cannot meet higher nonfederal share requirements.
State and local public agencies, airport authorities, and tax‑supported organizations will become eligible to receive chapter 511 grants, expanding which public entities can access federal transportation and infrastructure funding.
Projects that support civil, national security, and commercial space transportation needs are explicitly eligible, broadening the set of projects (including space-related) that can compete for federal grants.
A 90% federal cost‑share cap encourages greater nonfederal investment by requiring significant state/local or private contribution, which can leverage more total project funding and public‑private partnerships.
Low‑resourced state and local jurisdictions may struggle to meet required nonfederal shares under a 90% federal cost‑share cap, risking delayed, scaled‑back, or forgone projects in poorer communities.
The Secretary's broad discretion to grant waivers 'in the national interest' creates uncertainty for applicants about whether and when federal support will be approved, complicating local planning and financing.
Malformatted authorization language that leaves the maximum annual appropriation unclear creates near‑term funding uncertainty for projects and for taxpayers and governments planning to rely on this program.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Updates the federal spaceport grant program: expands eligible projects, sets a 90% federal cost-share cap with waiver authority, requires interagency consultation, and mandates periodic DOT reports to Congress.
Introduced September 17, 2025 by Dale Strong · Last progress September 17, 2025
Revises the federal spaceport grant program to update who can be funded, how much the DOT can cover, and how projects are chosen. The bill sets a 90% federal share cap for DOT grants (with a national-interest waiver), broadens eligible projects to include civil, national security, and commercial space transportation needs, requires DOT to consult other agencies, and mandates a Congress-facing report on demand and recommendations with scheduled updates. It also replaces the program’s prior appropriations language with a new authorization line that appears to contain a malformed dollar amount.