House of Representatives
Mica Won’t Say Where Transpo Funding Will Come From; LaHood Defends TE
House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) said this morning that getting permission from Republican leadership to find more revenues to fund the transportation bill was a “major breakthrough” but still won’t say where the money will come from.
October 14, 2011
Carnahan and LaTourette Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Bolster Transit Service
It's a sign of the recession, but also symptomatic of a longstanding restriction on federal transit funding. In Lorain, Ohio and Albany, New York and other cities across the country, rows of brand new buses, paid for with stimulus money, have been laid up in garages.
October 13, 2011
Update: House Gives Free Pass to Cement Polluters
Just to give a quick update on the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act that we reported on yesterday: The House passed the bill 262 to 161 in a not-quite-party-line vote. None of Rep. Henry Waxman's amendments were accepted. In fact, no amendments were accepted. All were offered by Democrats.
October 6, 2011
House to Vote on Cement Industry Environmental Regulations
Republicans have made clear that they don't think President Obama's jobs plan, including $50 billion for transportation infrastructure, will create jobs. They would rather remove regulations that cost industry money. They say reducing this "regulatory burden" will create jobs -- and they want to start with the cement industry.
October 5, 2011
USDOT Tries to Resuscitate the HSR Dreams Congress Wants to Bury
High-speed rail has had a rough go of it lately. The House refused to give it a dime for next year, while the Senate only managed to allocate a fraction of what the president wanted. President Obama stuck some money back in via his jobs package, but it already seems clear that the package won’t pass as proposed, and we know high-speed rail is the always first for the chopping block.
October 4, 2011
Cantor Orders Up Tax Cuts, Hold the Jobs
Congressional insiders say that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is refusing to hold an "all or nothing" vote on President Obama's jobs bill. Cantor says he'll bring "elements" of the bill to the floor but not the whole bill.
October 3, 2011
Republicans Have Their Own Plan to Pay for Infrastructure Jobs: Oil Drilling
President Obama has proposed a plan to pay for the American Jobs Act, the $447 billion bill to create 1.9 million jobs, including $50 billion for infrastructure. His "pay-for" plan includes limitations on itemized deductions for the wealthy and the elimination of some tax loopholes for oil and gas companies.
September 30, 2011
Another Shutdown Avoided
It's getting to be a little like the Boy Who Cried Wolf over on Capitol Hill. I mean, it's hard to get all revved up about an impending government shutdown when Congress always insists on taking negotiations to the edge and they always figure out something right before the deadline.
September 29, 2011
Mica, GOP Leadership Looking to Raise Transportation Spending Levels in Bill
According to yet another great report from Jeff Davis at Transportation Weekly, House Republican leadership has given House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica permission to seek additional revenues to fund the transportation reauthorization at levels $15 billion higher than initially proposed.
September 23, 2011
Dealbreaker: Senate Rejects House Budget Due to Lack of Car Subsidies
What's keeping Congress from passing an extension to the federal budget? Democratic protection of automobile subsidies.
September 23, 2011