Barbara Boxer
Boxer: Two-Year Transpo Bill Will Save 600,000 Jobs
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, says a transportation reauthorization bill needs to be passed soon in order to avoid the loss of 600,000 jobs in the construction and transit industries. She issued a call to action this morning, pushing for a new bill before the current extension of SAFETEA-LU expires on September 30.
July 6, 2011
Finally: Rustlings of a Reauthorization
First, the House and Senate pledged they'd have a bill marked up by Memorial Day. Then it was definitely going to come in June. (One staffer even told me that they were still planning on it coming "in the spring," so it would be before the summer solstice -- June 21.) But it looks like we might finally get a first glimpse of the fight ahead.
July 6, 2011
Highwayman Inhofe Still Wants to Rob Bike/Ped Funding From Transpo Bill
Last week, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) briefed reporters on the points of consensus reached by the four leaders of the Environment and Public Works Committee with regard to the transportation bill. In answer to a question by Streetsblog, she said that guaranteed federal funding for bike and pedestrian programs would be in the bill. She made it clear that bicycling and walking were important modes of transportation that deserve “good attention” in the bill.
June 3, 2011
Boxer: Transpo Funding Will Rise in Senate Bill, Bike/Ped Will Be Preserved
Senator Barbara Boxer, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, just addressed reporters about the progress of the transportation bill.
May 25, 2011
Senate Transportation Bill, MAP-21, Freezes Spending at Current Levels
Note: See follow-up post, "Boxer: Transpo Funding Will Rise in Senate Bill, Bike/Ped Will Be Preserved" for updates, including clarification that the new bill will fund transportation at current levels plus inflation and an expanded TIFIA program.
May 25, 2011
Senate Finalizing Transpo Bill — It’s Up to Boxer to Preserve Bike/Ped Funding
According to Congressional insiders, members of the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works are meeting today and tomorrow to hash out the details of their proposal for a multi-year transportation reauthorization bill. Hanging in the balance of these negotiations may be the federal government's only programs dedicated to funding infrastructure for biking and walking.
May 12, 2011
Boxer Tests Out “America Fast Forward” at Senate Committee Hearing
With House GOP leadership making it abundantly clear that they would be pleased to return federal transportation policy to the 1950s, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works met today to get serious about the who, what and how of funding a 21st century transportation system.
April 6, 2011
Chuck Schumer: America Needs More Streets Like Prospect Park West
Senator Chuck Schumer broke his long public silence on the redesigned Prospect Park West in dramatic fashion this morning, leading members of Congress on a two-wheeled tour of the physically separated bike lane that runs past his Brooklyn home. Schumer used the occasion to announce that he'll be introducing new legislation to promote investment in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
April 1, 2011
Strange Bedfellows Unite for Infrastructure Investment, Financing Tools
The “Tom and Rich Show” continued on Capitol Hill yesterday. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue and AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka joined up for yet another event to show that business and labor, which don’t agree on anything, agree on a major infusion of federal investment for infrastructure.
March 31, 2011
Boxer Pushes LaHood on Financing for Transportation
Senator Barbara Boxer got down to brass tacks on transportation funding in a committee hearing yesterday, even as DOT Secretary Ray LaHood remained vague on how to pay for the president's ambitious proposal. Boxer said she’s not in favor of raising the gas tax, but she’d like it to be indexed to inflation. “We don’t even know if the president would go that far with us,” she said, but clearly something needs to be done.
March 10, 2011