Today’s Headlines

  • As environmental groups head to the White House for a meeting on the Senate climate bill, its unveiling pushed back by another week (Greenwire, Nat Jrnl)
  • Democrats warn the Obama administration not to treat GM’s pension liabilities as its own (Det. News)
  • House transportation committee members urge White House to roll back rule allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads (Refrig. Transporter)
  • The Federal Railroad Administration limits public comment period on its national bullet-train plan (Prog. Fix)
  • Does Wisconsin’s new transit push leave its low-income residents stranded? (News Buzz)
  • Arizona governor’s move to slice transit funding could face legal challenge (East Valley Trib)
  • Georgia state lawmakers moving forward on legislation to aid Atlanta’s struggling transit network (AJC)
  • Will vaunted zoning reform in Montgomery County, Maryland, actually change much about residential density? (Yglesias)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

White House Budget Includes $530M for Local Sustainability, $1B for HSR

By Elana Schor |
The White House officially unveiled its $3.8 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2011 this morning, seeking $1 billion to continue its high-speed rail investment and $530 million for the transportation leg of the Obama administration’s inter-agency push to promote sustainable planning on the local level. White House budget chief Peter Orszag challenged employees to […]

Inside Obama’s Transpo Budget: “Historic Increase” in Transit Funding

By Angie Schmitt |
A few more details about the Obama administration’s proposal for a new transportation bill surfaced today when the president unveiled his 2015 budget proposal. The topline numbers came out last week and look good for transit, biking, and walkability. The White House’s four-year, $302 billion surface transportation plan proposes an “historic increase” in transit funding — […]

Don’t Hold Your Breath for a White House Transportation Bill

By Tanya Snyder |
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters today that the administration sent its draft bill to Capitol Hill two weeks ago. “It’s with the people that it needs to be with,” LaHood said, “the staff that’s working on a bill.” So while we reporters have been busy poring over draft bills that, it later turns out, […]

Is a Bigger Transportation Bill — This Year — Back on the Table?

By Elana Schor |
That’s the suggestion that an anonymous "Senate aide" made to Bloomberg News this morning, recounting a possible White House change of heart as mounting job losses stoke new debate over a second stimulus bill: Administration officials have told allies in Congress that a broader transportation bill, and extensions of a homebuyer tax credit and unemployment […]

Well That Was Quick: Obama Disavows Mileage Fee Proposal

By Tanya Snyder |
The Hill is reporting that the Obama administration has already sworn off a move toward a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. We just reported that an undated draft of the administration transportation proposal included the creation of an office to study the feasibility of implementing such a system to replace the traditional fuel tax. The Hill’s Keith Laing […]