Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Federal Funding

Conservative Motion to Cut Transportation Spending Fails (and Fails Hard)

2:45 PM EDT on June 8, 2012

The House has just defeated, in a 323 to 82 whopper, a motion to instruct members of the transportation bill conference committee to slash spending by nearly 30 percent in order to stay within the projected limits of the Highway Trust Fund.

The motion, sponsored by Georgia Republican Paul Broun, had acheived "key vote" status from conservative groups FreedomWorks and the Heritage Foundation, and got a stamp of approval from the right-wing bloggers at RedState for good measure. Its failure represents a glimmer of hope that the Tea Party has not completely hijacked the transportation reauthorization process from the conference committee. It also hints at how the Senate's transportation bill could have fared in the House, had it only been brought to a vote. And, like so many storylines of the last two years, it reflects the deep divisions remaining in the Republican caucus.

To refresh your memory, here's what we wrote about Broun's motion a week ago, when it was first introduced:

"By bringing Broun’s motion to a vote, they’re they’re putting to a vote the biggest issue in conference before the conference even has a chance to issue a report,” [Eno Center for Transportation President Joshua] Schank told Streetsblog. “Making all the House Republicans go on the record whether they’re in favor of deficit spending… indicates a lack of seriousness about trying to get a bill done.”

“They were inevitably going to come to a head over this issue,” Schank continued, explaining that House leadership’s only chance was to appoint Tea Party conferees in the hopes that they could sell the rest of their caucus on transportation spending. “All hopes of that happening seem to be dashed, because this vote makes it very hard to make that sale.”

As with all other motions to instruct conferees, this one would have been entirely non-binding. However, it put the House on the record about one of the most controversial aspects of the Senate's proposed two-year 18-month 15-month transportation bill, potentially forcing an already precarious and contentious process into a delicate situation.

Now that the votes have been tallied, the Tea Partyers have their opposition on the record, and the motion is dispensed with, is this a sign that House Republicans are willing to play ball? It may very well be, but it's also a sign that divisions between the various camps within the Republican party remain as deep as ever. As Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio said during general debate after the vote, "The Republican caucus is having an internal war. Eighty-two people say the federal government shouldn't be involved in infrastructure... That's crazy!"

Furthermore, while it's true that the 82 Republicans who supported the motion represent a minority of the GOP delegation, that is little comfort when it has often seemed that House leadership would not bring any bill to a general vote unless they were confident it would pass with 218 Republican votes.

The lesson here is that more Democrats and Republicans agree on more of the transportation bill than they're leading us to believe. If the House GOP leadership had been willing to engage in a little coalition building, we'd probably have a bill passed months ago.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Talking Headways Podcast: Local Culture and Development

We chat with Tim Sprague from Phoenix about supporting local culture through development projects and the importance of sustainable development and transportation.

September 21, 2023

How and Why to Start a Walking School Bus

Any caregiver for a kid in institutionalized education is familiar with the challenge of getting them where they’re going safely, on time, every single day, well before your own day’s assignments come into play. Here's how a walking school bus could help.

September 21, 2023

Thursday’s Headlines Have a New Pattern

Working from home may have killed the commute, but people are taking more frequent, shorter trips instead. Whether this adds up to less or more driving overall depends on the city.

September 21, 2023

New Calif. Slow Streets Offer a Sampler Platter of Quick-Build Safety Strategies

The city has a sampler platter of quick-build temporary traffic calming installations to experience for the rest of the year.

September 20, 2023

Wednesday’s Headlines Go Carless

A Washington state advocacy group for the disabled is challenging everyone to give up driving for the week of Oct. 2 to find out how hard it is to get around in most parts of the U.S.

September 20, 2023
See all posts