Federal Funding

In its annual “Views and Estimates” document [PDF], the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee indicates that when it comes to transportation policy, despite a few nods to transit, House Republicans still want to cut spending and let highway-centric state DOTs sort out the details. While the House transportation bill could be on its last legs, the document shows that the House GOP hasn't given up on its quest to eliminate street safety programs for walking and biking while giving a free hand to states to build more sprawl projects.

Last May, Streetsblog ran an article with the headline "Experts Agree: Six-Year Transportation Bill Won't Pass This Year." A lot has happened since then, but we're still right where we started, butting up against a deadline with more than enough gridlock to give even optimistic experts pause.

Majority Leader Harry Reid has incorporated much of the Ben Cardin/Thad Cochran amendment into the so-called "manager's mark" of the Senate transportation bill. The move means that the amendment's provisions letting local governments directly access funding from popular bicycle and pedestrian programs will be included in the bill without having to come up for a separate vote.

The U.S. Senate voted 51-48 today to reject an amendment to their transportation bill that would overturn measures in President Obama's signature health care law dealing with contraception coverage. The vote clears the way for the Senate to finally begin considering actual transportation issues rather than dealing with delay tactics.

UPDATE (3:45 p.m.): Citing a lack of support from his colleagues, Speaker John Boehner has dropped his 18-month transportation proposal and has not yet offered an alternative, according to Politico. "A five-year bill is the best way to do this," he said.

On January 6, 1983, the icon of the modern conservative movement, Ronald Reagan, signed legislation to raise the gas tax for the first time in more than two decades, devoting a portion of the revenue to transit.

When Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama balked at the increase in transportation spending recommended by President Obama's 2013 budget, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood did not mince words: "America is one big pothole," he said.

President Obama has released his budget request for the 2013 fiscal year, which includes a proposed $476 billion investment in transportation over six years. High-speed rail, mass transit, and bridge repair would get a big boost under Obama's plan, which is paid for primarily by war savings as America's troop presence is drawn down in Afghanistan.

When the House Ways and Means Committee voted to divert all gas tax revenue away from transit projects, severing transit's only dedicated source of federal funds, they were essentially throwing transit riders under the bus.