House of Representatives
Basics
Why Congress Must Save the American Community Survey
As if the drama surrounding the reauthorization weren’t enough, there is another transportation battle brewing between the House and Senate. Last month, the House voted to eliminate funding for the American Community Survey, which is the Census Bureau’s way of getting a yearly pulse-check of how the country is doing and where investment is needed. The Senate’s version of the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill [PDF], approved at the committee level, does not include this ill-advised amendment to defund the survey.
June 12, 2012
House Attack on Safe Streets Makes Transpo Bill Ever More Elusive
We reported last week that the House had proposed allowing states to “opt out” of funding bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements in its counter-offer to the Senate during transportation bill negotiations. The House GOP essentially wants to reject the Cardin-Cochran amendment, which gave local governments control over half the “Additional Activities” funding set aside for bike/ped programs, letting states make decisions about the other half.
June 11, 2012
Conservative Motion to Cut Transportation Spending Fails (and Fails Hard)
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.
June 8, 2012
Conference Devolves Into Talk of Extensions
If you were still hoping a real bill could come out of the transportation conference, here’s a bitter pill: House Speaker John Boehner is now talking about a six-month extension of the current law.
June 7, 2012
House GOP Wastes Time With Bogus Gas Tax Debate
If you've been following the ongoing transportation bill saga, then you know there's a fair amount of gamesmanship going on in Congress right now -- lots of political posturing, little progress on substantive policy. Here's a great new example of what the House GOP has been up to instead of passing a transportation bill:
June 7, 2012
Pelosi Challenges Boehner to Cancel Recess, Pound Out a Transpo Bill
All play and no work makes Jack an unemployed construction worker.
June 6, 2012
House Appropriators Leave TIGER, HSR Out of Next Year’s Budget
It's always confusing when, in the middle of endless bicameral hand-wringing about transportation spending, the House Appropriations Committee puts out a budget for transportation without much ado.
June 6, 2012
Boxer to Speak to Reporters, Address Cloud Over Conference Committee
Sen. Barbara Boxer is due to speak to reporters in about an hour about the goings-on in the conference committee. The mood has turned dark in the past few days, but she’s kept a positive attitude, saying, “It’s been wonderful.”
June 5, 2012
Clues Hint at Souring Negotiations in Transpo Bill Conference
Politico Pro Transportation put out a news blast today that threw some light into the inky shadows of the conference committee process, and what we saw there doesn't look too pretty. Apparently Sen. Barbara Boxer has reason to believe negotiations aren't going so well, "after a House GOP conferee criticized her for 'stonewalling' the lower chamber":
May 31, 2012