House of Representatives
Streetsblog Basics
House Transpo Bill Doesn’t Have the Votes, So Republicans Split It in Three
With more and more Republicans coming out against provisions of the House transportation bill, the GOP leadership has opted to split their massive bill into three parts to be debated and voted on separately, Politico reports. The thinking, as Larry Ehl writes, is that members will be allowed "to go on record voting 'yes' on sections they strongly support, and 'no' on sections they strongly oppose." One bill would deal with transportation reauthorization (including the Ways & Means Committee's transit "fix"), one with energy production, and one with federal pension reform (yes, all of that was included in the same bill until today).
February 14, 2012
79 New York City Execs Tell House to Kill Anti-Transit Bill
The hits keep coming against the Republican House of Representatives' radical transportation bill, especially its unprecedented attack on dedicated transit funding. In New York, the region's Congress member -- of both parties -- and editorial boards have now been joined by that most traditional GOP constituency: big business.
February 13, 2012
New York Republicans Join Nadler, Defect From House Attack on Transit
Northeastern Republicans, especially those from transit-rich New York, continue to turn against the House leadership's unprecedented attack on transit. An amendment by Manhattan Democrat Jerry Nadler, which would head off the attempt to stop gas tax revenues from going to transit, is attracting significant support from area Republicans.
February 13, 2012
Will Michael Grimm Reject the House GOP Attack on His Constituents?
It isn't only Democrats blasting the House Republican transportation bill, which would eliminate dedicated federal transit funding, cost the MTA up to $1 billion a year and slash bicycle and pedestrian funding. In the transit-dependent New York region, some Republicans are balking at the ferociously anti-urban legislation. But many of their colleagues remain studiously silent.
February 9, 2012
Six Lies the GOP Is Telling About the House Transportation Bill
The transportation-plus-drilling bill that John Boehner and company are trying to ram through the House is an attack on transit riders, pedestrians, cyclists, city dwellers, and every American who can't afford to drive everywhere. Under this bill, all the dedicated federal funding streams for transit, biking, and walking would disappear, leading to widespread service cuts and more injuries and deaths on American streets. But to hear the Republican-controlled Transportation and Infrastructure Committee tell it, they're not harming anyone. In a statement, committee spokesperson Josh Harclerode told Transportation Nation earlier this week:
February 9, 2012
House Transportation Bill Too Extreme for Some Republicans
The House GOP's transportation bill is legislation only Big Oil can love. By eviscerating dedicated transit funds, killing programs that support safe streets, and linking transportation funding to oil drilling in the Arctic, the bill has managed to alienate everyone from environmental advocates to the ultra-conservative Club for Growth.
February 8, 2012
NYC Congress Members, MTA Chief Repudiate House GOP Attack on Transit
Four New York City members of Congress joined the chairman of the MTA today to bluntly denounce the House GOP's anti-transit transportation bill.
February 6, 2012
Who Still Likes the House Transpo Bill? Big Oil, Big Truck, and Big Box Retail
The House has finished marking up its transportation bill in what shaped up to be a very Groundhog Day-esque ordeal of unending, repetitive partisan theater (if you missed it, follow coverage on twitter).
February 3, 2012
Massive Coalition Opposes House GOP Attempt to Eviscerate Transit
The House Ways and Means committee has just passed a bill that would kick transit out of the Highway Trust Fund, casting aside a 30-year history of providing a dedicated funding source for federal transit programs. Transit instead would be funded by a transfer from the general fund, which would have to be offset by cuts elsewhere to avoid raising the deficit. As US PIRG's Dan Smith said yesterday, this is like saying that transit funding will come from the Tooth Fairy.
February 3, 2012
House GOP Moves to Decimate Dedicated Transit Funding
In a move that should dispel any remaining thoughts that the House transportation bill [PDF] will ever be signed into law, the Ways and Means Committee announced today that they will try to forbid gas tax revenue from funding transit.
February 2, 2012