Federal Funding

Tomorrow, a Senate panel will vote on two budget bills for FY2012, one of which is for transportation and housing programs. The draft of the bill isn't available until after the subcommittee markup tomorrow, but Smart Growth America is calling attention to the fact that it's important to make sure the bill includes funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, the partnership between USDOT, the EPA, and HUD.

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.

UPDATED with comments from Sen. Tom Coburn's staff.

Although SAFETEA-LU doesn't expire for another two weeks, the FAA reauthorization expires in two days, and Reid said that if Coburn doesn't change course, "we cannot get to this bill prior to Friday when the FAA expires.”

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.

For the last few days, we've been talking a lot about Sen. Tom Coburn's crusade to remove bike/ped funding from the transportation bill -- even just from the six-month extension that just passed the House and is on its way to the Senate. He's determined to insert an amendment to take out the funds.

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.

Last week, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) told Streetsblog freelancer Alice Ollstein that he had good reason to oppose Transportation Enhancements, the program that funds bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Just days after a Senate committee asked the full chamber to consider a four-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, new negotiations have replaced that idea with a six-month extension at current spending levels. The bill also extends the gas tax.