Reauthorization
Basics
What Will the Senate Bill’s Transit Section Look Like?
Though the House Republicans are stealing the show these days with their endeavor to tie infrastructure funding to oil drilling, let’s not forget there’s a serious, bipartisan transportation reauthorization bill out there that actually has a chance of passage: the Senate’s MAP-21. On its path toward a full Senate vote, that two-year bill is paused at its latest checkpoint: the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The committee is now busy tackling the transit title of the “MAP-21” legislation, following unanimous approval of the "highway" portion two weeks ago by the EPW Committee. (Quick reminder: the funding in the highway title can be spent on many things that are not highways, like transit systems and bike lanes.)
November 22, 2011
Taxpayer Group: GOP Drill Bill “Not a Responsible Budget Approach”
From an environmental perspective, the House GOP proposal to fund infrastructure with fees on fossil fuel extraction is clearly a disaster. But does it even pass the smell test from a dollars-and-cents perspective?
November 21, 2011
Boehner Touts Vague Outline of Oil Drilling + Transpo Bill
Domestic oil drilling would increase exponentially under a proposal that the House GOP is developing as part of its legislative package for long-term transportation policy. John Boehner outlined the basics of the package today.
November 17, 2011
No Details Yet on House Transportation and Oil Drilling Bill
House leaders did not unveil a bill at their press conference this morning.
November 17, 2011
House GOP Takes the Plunge, Unveils Transportation and Energy Plan Today
UPDATE 12:00: Leaders did not introduce a bill, but outlined their plan in rather vague terms. More to come.
November 17, 2011
Mica Warns Boxer on Highway Trust Fund; House Plans Hearing on “Drill Bill”
“I want to congratulate you on your Committee’s approval of the ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” begins House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica’s letter yesterday to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
November 15, 2011
Senate Bill May Weaken Smaller Metros, Empower State DOTs
In Indiana, the state DOT wants to build a 142-mile extension of Interstate 69, but the Bloomington metropolitan planning organization won’t allow it – the group had written the road out of its three-year transportation plan and members are standing firm, refusing to write it back in. The MPO in Charlottesville, Virginia, similarly, long fought the construction of a $245 million, six-mile bypass the state plans to build to accommodate freight traffic.
November 14, 2011
Nine Reasons For Bike/Ped Advocates to Take Heart: The Senate Edition
Now that the dust has settled, we have a few more notes on the Senate transportation bill that passed the EPW committee yesterday. Bike and pedestrian advocates are understandably shaken at seeing some major changes to the primary programs that fund their work. But here are some reasons to take heart:
November 10, 2011
Two-Year Transpo Bill Moves on to Full Senate Without Bike/Ped Protections
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously this morning to pass a two-year transportation reauthorization bill, moving the bill one step closer to passage by the full Senate.
November 9, 2011
Senate’s Draft Transpo Bill Ends Earmarks But Weakens Bike-Ped Programs
Last Friday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released its draft transportation reauthorization bill. With the GOP-controlled House contemplating a national transportation policy designed for maximum fossil fuel consumption, the best opportunities for reform reside in the Senate.
November 7, 2011