Reauthorization

Updated 4:15 p.m.:

Here's the latest transpo bill news that has filtered through the tight little seams in the armor around the conference committee.

Conference negotiations are continuing, Congressional staffers are getting no sleep, legislators could even lose their weekend if they don’t get this transportation bill done. Politico noted this morning a key fact that seems to be flying under the radar: the deadline isn’t really Saturday. It’s actually today, if House members are to have the requisite three days to read the bill. (The GOP made a big deal over not having enough time to read long and complicated bills while the Dems were in charge.)

UPDATE: The final bill contained a $2.4 billion transfer from Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund to the Highway Trust Fund in June 2012 and three transfers from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund, totaling $18.8 billion. They were: $6.2 billion to the Highway Account of HTF in October 2012; $10.4 billion transfer to Highway Account of HTF in October 2013; and $2.2 billion transfer to Mass Transit Account of HTF in October 2013. They dropped the car tariffs change and the gas guzzler transfer. They replaced those smaller transfers and offsets with the pension provisions and a tiny bit from the roll-your-own-cigarettes change.

With conference negotiations occurring in a black box, transportation advocates on all sides are anxiously awaiting word of the final deal. Rumors abound that Democrats have been willing to negotiate away local control over bike/ped funding as a bargaining chip to get other concessions from Republicans. We don't know if this is true or not, but bike advocates are stepping up their game, trying to hold Sen. Barbara Boxer to her promises to preserve funding support for small-scale street safety projects.

House Speaker John Boehner spoke to reporters yesterday morning. His message: "Republicans Relentlessly Focused on Jobs."

This post originally appeared on www.bikeleague.org. The author is the president of the League of American Bicyclists.

A coalition of civil rights and environmental groups is crying foul over proposed changes to an important environmental protection as lawmakers attempt to hammer out a last minute deal on the transportation bill.

Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. John Mica just released this statement: