President Barack Obama's proposed $3.8-trillion budget for fiscal year 2013 would continue to squeeze discretionary spending and make further cuts in many construction programs that were trimmed this year. The proposal includes some construction hikes and repeats Obama's 2011 call for a sharp, immediate boost for highways and transit. But the transportation proposal's outlook is dim, because Congress turned it down twice before.
Obama's budget request, sent to Congress on Feb. 13, is just the beginning of a long, tough partisan fight over 2013 spending. The outcome will have a direct impact on design and construction firms that focus on government projects.