Federal Funding
Streetsblog Basics
Obama: “I Will Veto Any Bill” Without Tax Increases on the Wealthy
In a Rose Garden speech this morning, President Obama soundly rejected Republicans’ push to address the deficit exclusively through spending cuts with no tax increases. He was responding to House Speaker John Boehner, who said last week that tax increases were “off the table.” The outcome of the current deficit-cutting fight could have significant implications for transportation-related proposals like the national infrastructure bank, which Obama included in his recently-unveiled American Jobs Act.
September 19, 2011
Last-Minute Deal Preserves Bike/Ped Funding. But For How Long?
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has relented on his push to strip Transportation Enhancement funding from the six-month surface transportation extension, clearing the way for Senate passage last night and a White House signature today.
September 16, 2011
Coburn Blocks Quick Senate Vote on Transportation Extension
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has placed a "hold" on the transportation extension, along with a bill to continue sanctions against Burma and to provide disaster relief to areas affected by Hurricane Irene and other storms.
September 14, 2011
House Prepares to Vote on Extension, Coburn Will Try to Kill Bike/Ped
In a couple of hours, the House will vote on the transportation extension bill – under unanimous consent rules. That means a single vote in opposition could delay passage.
September 13, 2011
Inhofe Supports Clean Extension, Won’t Vote Against Bike/Ped (This Time)
The Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously agreed this morning to send a four-month extension of the transportation bill to the full Senate. Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) emphasized that it wasn’t easy to get consensus on the extension, especially with many members wanting to move forward with the full two-year bill.
September 8, 2011
Senate’s “Dr. No” Says He’ll Block Transpo Extension Unless Bike/Ped Is Cut
Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn is known around the Senate as "Dr. No" for his propensity to hold up key legislation, single-handedly, because it contains something not to his liking (or sometimes because he's upset about something else entirely.) On Veterans Day in 2009, he shocked even his GOP colleagues by blocking veterans' benefits because he wanted their cost to be offset. Because of a Senate rule requiring unanimity for certain votes, he alone has been able to block votes on wilderness protections, health care provisions, and disarmament in Uganda.
September 6, 2011
GOP Leader’s Infra “Compromise” Is Just Another Ploy to Kill Bike/Ped
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has put forth an idea that major news outlets are calling an "olive branch" to President Obama on infrastructure funding.
September 6, 2011
One More Push Can Preserve Federal Safe Routes to School Funding
This week, the Safe Routes to School National Conference convenes in Minneapolis, a progressive city determined to become the most bicycle friendly in the nation. But even here, far from the nation’s capital, in a region celebrated for its massive greenway system, drama inside the Beltway has instilled an air of urgency to the event.
August 18, 2011
Recession Forcing Cutbacks at Nearly 80 Percent of U.S. Transit Agencies
How bad have the past two years been for transit agencies in the United States? In a word: bad. In two words: very bad.
August 17, 2011
“This Is Not a Good Bill”: Congress Holds Its Nose, Passes Debt Bill
Both houses of Congress have now put their stamp of approval on the bill to raise the debt ceiling, just hours before a deadline that would have lowered the U.S. credit rating, forced the country to default on its debts, and potentially triggered a worldwide recession.
August 2, 2011