2009 Transportation Bill
Streetsblog Capitol Hill Q&A: Blumenauer Talks Economic Recovery
On the issue of clean transportation, from transit to bike paths to clean water, few members of Congress are as knowledgeable or active as Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). Chief of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus and founder of the new Livable Communities Task Force, the Portland lawmaker is on the front lines of Washington's biggest infrastructure debates. Streetsblog Capitol Hill spoke with him yesterday about the prospects for transportation in the coming jobs bill, which he has said could be paid for in part with Wall Street bailout money. Below is a lightly edited transcript of the discussion.
December 3, 2009
Why Deficit Politics Matter in the Infrastructure Debate
Infrastructure will be on the menu tomorrow when the White House hosts a "jobs summit" aimed at assuaging public concern over mounting unemployment. Labor leaders have vowed to push for new transport projects, and invitee Paul Krugman is already on record backing a Wall Street transaction tax that some House Democrats want to see benefit the built environment.
December 2, 2009
Blumenauer: Let’s Redirect Wall Street Bailout Money to Infrastructure
The war in Afghanistan and the health care bill are consuming much of Washington's oxygen today, but looming in the background is a high-stakes clash over what to do with an estimated $210 billion in unspent and returned cash from the government's rescue of Wall Street.
December 1, 2009
LaHood: Gas Tax Increase in Congressional Hands
As Congress maneuvers to end the political impasse over the next long-term national transportation bill, lawmakers are going to have to debate an increase in the federal gas tax, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today.
November 30, 2009
DeFazio, Perlmutter Drafting New Version of Wall Street Transport Tax
Reps. Pete DeFazio (D-OR) and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) are working on a broader version of the former lawmaker's plan to pay for U.S. infrastructure investment by imposing a small tax on stock transactions, despite a note of caution sounded last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
November 24, 2009
Pelosi: Passing a Wall Street Transport Tax Would Require Overseas Buy-in
Any proposal to fund new U.S. infrastructure investment by taxing financial transactions -- such as Rep. Pete DeFazio's (D-OR) bill taxing Wall Street oil speculators -- would require international participation to prevent the trades in question from migrating overseas, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said today.
November 19, 2009
‘This Needs Attention’: Senators Seek Shot in the Arm on Transportation
Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and fellow lawmakers today pressed the Obama administration to take a more active role in ending the current political stalemate over federal transportation funding, but the sense of urgency they sought emerged only intermittently during an 80-minute session on infrastructure.
November 18, 2009
3 GOPers, 4 Dems Ask Reid to Call Up Six-Month Transport Bill Extension
The senior Republicans on three of the Senate's four infrastructure-centric committees today signed a bipartisan letter asking the leaders of Congress' upper chamber to call up a six-month extension of the 2005 transportation law.
November 17, 2009
Introducing the Samuelson Gas Tax Increase: A Penny Every Month
Democratic lawmakers are discussing the possibility of a one-year stopgap transportation bill but have yet to reach consensus on how to pay for the measure, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) said today.
November 17, 2009
Voinovich Has a Job-Creation Proposal for the President
Before leaving for Asia yesterday, President Obama announced a job creation summit to take place next month and declared himself "open to any demonstrably good idea" to cut the rising unemployment rate.
November 13, 2009