House to Take Up Transportation Spending Bill This Week

The House’s transportation and housing spending bill for 2010 is slated for a vote in the full chamber this week, setting the stage for possible showdowns over the measure’s $4 billion for high-speed rail and $150 million for the Washington D.C. Metro system. 

A copy of the bill can be downloaded on the website of House Rules Committee, which will meet on Wednesday to consider proposed amendments.

During Friday’s committee debate on the $123 billion measure, Republicans mounted an unsuccessful bid to move all but $1 billion of its high-speed rail money to the cash-strapped highway trust fund, but that failure doesn’t necessarily mean the GOP effort is over for good.

The bill also gives Amtrak a healthy $1.5 billion in funding, which could become a target for Republican amendments during the House debate later this week. Stay tuned.

Late Update: Readers may be asking how this bill relates to the six-year, $450 billion measure that’s pending in the House. The six-year bill is an authorization, setting out priorities that are formally funded by annual spending bills such as the one that will get a vote this week.

Ordinarily, the 2010 spending bill would include a concrete level of annual funding — this time, the bill’s authors had to assume that the highway trust fund would be saved from insolvency by the time the next fiscal year begins.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Transportation Bill Heats Up Again in Congress

|
There’s been plenty of buzz over the last few days surrounding Congress’s efforts to pass a multi-year transportation bill. When Congress adjourned last month, the Senate had made significant progress on a two-year bill. In the House, Rep. John Mica had repeatedly promised a five- or six-year bill, but nothing had been introduced. Now, finally, […]

Senate Offers a More Multi-Modal 2014 Transportation Budget Than the House

|
Last week, a House panel envisioned some big cuts to next year’s transportation budget. TIGER and high-speed rail would get nothing, Amtrak would get slashed, and ixnay on all that green “livability” crap. (And that’s practically a quote.) The Senate Appropriations Committee voted this morning on the budget its own transportation subcommittee put together, and the end […]

Senate Strips High-Speed Rail Funding

|
The Senate’s transportation budget proposal is still under wraps, but we’re getting some clues about what’s in it. This morning, a subcommittee marked up the transportation and HUD appropriations bill, and the full committee will consider it tomorrow afternoon. Only after that will the draft bill be released. During this morning’s subcommittee markup, though, a […]

How Will the House Answer the Senate’s Transportation Funding Bill?

|
The full Senate passed a major appropriations bill yesterday, including funding levels for transportation and housing. The Senate put the kibosh on Sen. Rand Paul’s attempt to strip bike/ped funding from the federal transportation program, as we reported yesterday. Here’s the lowdown on the bill as a whole. The upper chamber maintained funding for several key livability […]

GOP Demands a Stop to Stim Spending. What Will It Mean for Rail Projects?

|
The top Republican currently on the Appropriations Committee wants to take back stimulus funds promised to states and localities for much-needed infrastructure programs, including more than $6 billion in transportation funding. High-speed rail projects would take an especially big hit under the plan. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) has introduced H.R. 6403, the American Recovery and Reinvestment […]