Federal Transportation Bill
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Boxer Confirms: Some Bike/Ped Protections Remain in Final Bill [Updated]
Sen. Barbara Boxer just issued the statement below. It confirms that “half of the funds for bike paths and pedestrian walkways [will be allocated] directly to local entities,” as spelled out in the Cardin-Cochran amendment. Update: It appears that the “opt-out” provision for states only applies to the half that they control, after local governments have their say. However, that’s still a blow to street safety compared to the Cardin-Cochran provision passed by the Senate, which required states to hold a competitive grant process to distribute their half of the funds.
June 27, 2012
Transpo Bill Rumor: DeFazio Says Conference Committee “Gutted” Bike/Ped
Here's the latest transpo bill news that has filtered through the tight little seams in the armor around the conference committee.
June 27, 2012
Top 10 Reasons Barbara Boxer Must Keep Her Word on Bike/Ped Programs
Andy Clarke is the president of the League of American Bicyclists. This piece is cross-posted from the Bike League's site.
June 22, 2012
Boehner Masks GOP Attack on Safe Streets By Opposing Flowers
House Speaker John Boehner spoke to reporters yesterday morning. His message: "Republicans Relentlessly Focused on Jobs."
June 22, 2012
Boxer and Mica Release Vague Reassurance of Progress
Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. John Mica just released this statement:
June 21, 2012
House to Vote on Firming Up the Conference Deadline
The House is about to vote on a motion to instruct, sponsored by Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN). It's a non-binding command to the House members of the conference committee to finish their work by June 22 -- this Friday. Walz's motion rejects the current talk of an extension in case the conference can't come to an agreement.
June 20, 2012
House Attack on Safe Streets Makes Transpo Bill Ever More Elusive
We reported last week that the House had proposed allowing states to “opt out” of funding bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements in its counter-offer to the Senate during transportation bill negotiations. The House GOP essentially wants to reject the Cardin-Cochran amendment, which gave local governments control over half the “Additional Activities” funding set aside for bike/ped programs, letting states make decisions about the other half.
June 12, 2012
House GOP Threatens to Wipe Out Local Control Over Bike/Ped Funding
The House GOP couldn't pass a transportation bill of their own, so now they want to undo one of the major bi-partisan achievements in the Senate transportation bill.
June 8, 2012
House GOP Wastes Time With Bogus Gas Tax Debate
If you've been following the ongoing transportation bill saga, then you know there's a fair amount of gamesmanship going on in Congress right now -- lots of political posturing, little progress on substantive policy. Here's a great new example of what the House GOP has been up to instead of passing a transportation bill:
June 7, 2012