U.S. Senate
Streetsblog Basics
Cyclists Descend on Capitol Hill, Ask Lawmakers to Preserve Bike Funding
Every year, the cyclists that gather in Washington for the National Bike Summit meet with hundreds of Congressional offices to ask for expanded bike funding. This year, they’re just asking lawmakers not to cut it.
March 11, 2011
AASHTO: Government Shutdown Could Cost Transportation Sector $100M/Day
If the House, Senate, and President Obama don’t agree on a course of action by the end of this week, the U.S. will be left with no federal budget, and the government will shut down. Transit agencies and construction interests don't seem alarmed, but the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimates that a government shutdown would stop $100 million in transportation dollars a day from flowing into the national economy.
February 28, 2011
How Hard Will the Senate Fight Back Against House Spending Cuts?
Members of Congress worked all day Friday, until 4:42 Saturday morning, to finish voting on hundreds of amendments and, finally, the final HR 1 bill to set spending levels for the rest of 2011.
February 22, 2011
AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce Ask For a Gas Tax Hike; Senators Agree
Against all odds, in a time of high unemployment and Republican attacks on spending, momentum may finally be building for a gas tax increase.
February 16, 2011
House Transpo Committee Shrinks, Senate EPW Announces New Members
The committees with jurisdiction over transportation are shrinking. In the Senate, committee membership is only going from 21 to 20. But the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is experiencing a much more significant belt-tightening, shrinking from a committee of 75 to just 59. Of those 59, 33 are Republicans and 26 are Democrats.
January 28, 2011
Senate Committee Backs Infrastructure Spending (But Not For Bike Lanes)
“We need to take care of this sooner than later,” Sen. Barbara Boxer said this morning in reference to a surface transportation reauthorization. “We can’t keep doing extension after extension.”
January 26, 2011
Sen. Boxer: Working With Mica, Inhofe on a Long-Term Transpo Bill
Senator Barbara Boxer told reporters today that she had an "excellent", “wonderful” meeting with Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the new chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. She confirmed that they're working on a "longer-term" transportation bill and have come up with many points of agreement. We'll let you know more details about that meeting as we get them.
January 6, 2011
Senate Vote Will Give GOP a Crack at the Transpo Bill Sooner
A few weeks ago, members of the House threw up their hands and voted for a year-long extension of the 2010 budget. It included an extension of the transportation reauthorization. The Senate didn't vote on it in time, so then the House voted for a three-day extension to give the Senate a few more days after the current extension expired.
December 21, 2010
Transit Benefit (Wrapped in Tax Cuts) Clears the Senate
The Senate voted 81-19 to support President Obama’s plan to extend the Bush tax cuts this afternoon. Some of those Senators probably didn’t even realize that they were also voting to extend equal tax benefits for transit commuters, on par with parking credits.
December 15, 2010
Earmark Ban Goes Down to Defeat in the Senate
The Senate just voted down the Republican proposal to ban earmarks.
November 30, 2010