Federal Funding
Basics
Transpo Committee Dems Submit Deficit-Reduction Ideas to Super Committee
Tomorrow is the deadline for Congressional committees to advise the super committee on how they'd like to see the deficit reduction plan formulated. The Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee submitted theirs today [PDF], divided into three sections: "Creating Jobs," "Eliminating Waste, Fraud and Abuse," and "Promoting Efficiency and Reform of Government."
October 13, 2011
McConnell Spoiling For a Fight Over Jobs Bill, House Passes Budget Extension
Amid prognostications that the jobs bill is "dead" -- including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's announcement that the House won't vote on the bill in its entirety -- Senate Minority Leaders Mitch McConnell said today that he's just itching for a vote on the Senate floor.
October 4, 2011
Cantor Orders Up Tax Cuts, Hold the Jobs
Congressional insiders say that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is refusing to hold an "all or nothing" vote on President Obama's jobs bill. Cantor says he'll bring "elements" of the bill to the floor but not the whole bill.
October 3, 2011
Republicans Have Their Own Plan to Pay for Infrastructure Jobs: Oil Drilling
President Obama has proposed a plan to pay for the American Jobs Act, the $447 billion bill to create 1.9 million jobs, including $50 billion for infrastructure. His "pay-for" plan includes limitations on itemized deductions for the wealthy and the elimination of some tax loopholes for oil and gas companies.
September 30, 2011
Another Shutdown Avoided
It's getting to be a little like the Boy Who Cried Wolf over on Capitol Hill. I mean, it's hard to get all revved up about an impending government shutdown when Congress always insists on taking negotiations to the edge and they always figure out something right before the deadline.
September 29, 2011
Sen. Menendez Introduces Bill to Plan For Livable Communities
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has taken up where former Senator Chris Dodd left off. Last week, Menendez offered a fresh version of Dodd’s Livable Communities Act. The bill would formally authorize the HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities and its Regional Planning and Community Challenge grant programs, restoring funding for those programs to 2010 levels.
September 28, 2011
Mica, GOP Leadership Looking to Raise Transportation Spending Levels in Bill
According to yet another great report from Jeff Davis at Transportation Weekly, House Republican leadership has given House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica permission to seek additional revenues to fund the transportation reauthorization at levels $15 billion higher than initially proposed.
September 23, 2011
Dealbreaker: Senate Rejects House Budget Due to Lack of Car Subsidies
What's keeping Congress from passing an extension to the federal budget? Democratic protection of automobile subsidies.
September 23, 2011
Senate Saves a Sliver For High-Speed Rail
President Obama had sought $8 billion for high-speed rail in 2012. The House-passed budget had exactly zero. The Senate bill approved by the Transportation subcommittee Tuesday followed suit. But the full Appropriations Committee yesterday put $100 million back into next year's budget for the president's signature transportation initiative.
September 22, 2011
Federal Support for Smart Planning Is on the Line Tomorrow
Tomorrow, a Senate panel will vote on two budget bills for FY2012, one of which is for transportation and housing programs. The draft of the bill isn't available until after the subcommittee markup tomorrow, but Smart Growth America is calling attention to the fact that it's important to make sure the bill includes funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, the partnership between USDOT, the EPA, and HUD.
September 19, 2011