A bill to increase the Federal operating share for rural transit, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 3978 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3978 To increase the Federal operating share for rural transit, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 3, 2026 Ms. Smith (for herself, Mr. Rounds, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To increase the Federal operating share for rural transit, 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 ``Investments in Rural Transit Act''. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. In this Act: (1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the Federal Transit Administration. (2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of the Administration. (3) Rural area.--The term ``rural area'' has the meaning given the term in section 5302 of title 49, United States Code. (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Transportation. SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT STREAMLINING. (a) Expansion.--Section 3019(b) of the FAST Act (49 U.S.C. 5325 note) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (1)(A)-- (A) in clause (i)(I), by inserting ``or local'' after ``State''; (B) in clause (ii), by striking subclauses (I) and (II) and inserting the following: ``(I) a nonprofit cooperative purchasing organization that is not a grantee; ``(II) a consortium of grantees; or ``(III) a consortium of entities described in subclause (I);''; (C) in clause (iii), by inserting ``or local'' after ``State''; and (D) by amending clause (v) to read as follows: ``(v) the term `participate' means to purchase or procure under a cooperative procurement contra