2009 Transportation Bill
Obama’s Agenda for Cities: Enough Talk
In closing his speech to a roundtable on urban and metropolitan issues, given yesterday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Barack Obama quoted Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, who famously urged men to "make no small plans."
July 14, 2009
Did Pelosi Just Side With Oberstar on the Transpo Bill?
That's the implication of a Roll Call story today that states: "Momentum Builds for Transportation Bill."
July 9, 2009
Why Road Builders Want a Transportation Bill Now
The clash between the Obama administration and senior House Democrats over passing a new federal transportation bill can be viewed on a number of levels: as an commentary on the lack of political will to tackle infrastructure, as proof that Washington is finally serious about climate change, and certainly as a spur to find new revenue sources.
July 7, 2009
Highway Lobby: Obama DOT’s Transpo Goals ‘Not Appropriate’
The provisions the Obama administration wants to see added to an 18-month extension of current transportation law -- adding up to $310 million for state and local planning -- may look pretty minor to reform-minded voters. But they're a bridge too far for the Washington highway lobby.
July 2, 2009
Obama Administration’s Transportation Goals: Read Them Here
When the Obama administration proposed an 18-month delay in drafting the next federal transportation bill, U.S. DOT chief Ray LaHood called for Congress to include "critical reforms" alongside the extension of the existing law. But details on those reforms have been kept under wraps -- until today.
July 1, 2009
Voinovich: Business Buy-in Can Get a New Transportation Bill Done
George Voinovich (R-OH) may be the only senator who wants to forget about an 18-month extension of existing transportation law and move ahead quickly on broad reform. But that doesn't mean he's giving up.
June 25, 2009
Money or Nothing
Building America's Future is a kind of DreamWorks for the infrastructure set.
June 25, 2009
Boxer and Inhofe Agree: Transportation Policy Reform Can Wait
Green transportation advocates are pressing Congress to refuse any new spending that's not tied to reform of the existing system -- a call that influential senators in both parties ruled out today.
June 25, 2009
Your Unlikely Reasonable Voice of the Day
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is not known as a friend of green transportation -- and that's putting it mildly.
June 24, 2009
House Transpo Leaders and Obama DOT Run Off in Opposite Directions
The conflicted state of federal transportation policy-making was on vivid display today, as House lawmakers pressed ahead on a $500 billion bill that still lacks a funding source while the Obama administration scrambled to find $20 billion for a bailout of the highway trust fund.
June 24, 2009