House of Representatives
Basics
Aviation Bill: Foretelling What’s to Come For Surface Transportation?
If today’s FAA vote in the House is a preview of the upcoming debate over funding for the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure, we can foresee fights between the House and Senate over funding levels and the loss of key public services.
March 29, 2011
Congressional Listening Tour Draws to an End in the Philadelphia Suburbs
Cross-posted with permission from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.
March 28, 2011
Put Your Listening Cap On, Committee Members
As promised, the Transportation Committee (the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, to be precise) has sent the tentative witness list for its two-day hearing that purports to "Focus on Surface Transportation Bill and Streamlining Programs, Cutting Red Tape & Creating Jobs."
March 25, 2011
The Week Ahead: Congress Fights About Budget Cuts and Talks Transpo
I hope members of Congress had a nice, relaxing recess this week, because it’s about to get crazy on Capitol Hill.
March 25, 2011
WSJ: Mica Says Transit Funding Will Stay “About the Same”
Update 3:35 p.m.: Transportation Committee staff says Mica has confirmed what he meant: "He was referring to the share. Keep in mind that we have no numbers or details for a bill yet -- the hearing process is not yet finished and we have not drafted a bill. He was simply speculating at this point."
March 22, 2011
House Transportation Committee Rejects Obama’s 2012 Budget Request
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is having its say about the president’s ambitious – and unpaid-for – budget request for transportation.
March 22, 2011
T&I Field Hearings Pick Up Where They Left Off
According to a Transportation Committee staffer, a tentative schedule for the previously postponed field hearings is taking shape. Three hearings were postponed last month when debate ran long (until 4:30 a.m., in fact) on H.R.1, the house bill that cut $61 billion from the FY2011 budget.
March 16, 2011
Rep. LaTourette Tells Transit Advocates to Ask Congress for What They Need
Transit officials spent the day on Capitol Hill yesterday, meeting with Congressional offices as part of the American Public Transportation Association's legislative conference.
March 16, 2011
House Passes Three-Week Budget Extension
The House just voted 271-158 to extend the FY2010 for three more weeks while the two houses of Congress try to reconcile their respective ideas about spending cuts. It wasn't a party-line vote: 54 Republicans voted against the resolution and 85 Democrats voted for it. The bill cuts $6 billion over its three-week life.
March 15, 2011
“Grab a Hold of Your Shorts”: Mica and LaHood Talk Transportation Bill
This morning, House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica told transit professionals gathered at the American Public Transportation Association’s legislative conference that he’s still hoping to pass a bill out of the House by May in order to get it signed before September 30, when the current extension of SAFETEA-LU expires. “It’ll be very difficult after that,” he said. “Because of the presidential ‘happy season,’ major legislation sometimes gets left behind.”
March 15, 2011