U.S. Senate

Majority Leader Harry Reid has incorporated much of the Ben Cardin/Thad Cochran amendment into the so-called "manager's mark" of the Senate transportation bill. The move means that the amendment's provisions letting local governments directly access funding from popular bicycle and pedestrian programs will be included in the bill without having to come up for a separate vote.

The U.S. Senate voted 51-48 today to reject an amendment to their transportation bill that would overturn measures in President Obama's signature health care law dealing with contraception coverage. The vote clears the way for the Senate to finally begin considering actual transportation issues rather than dealing with delay tactics.

Congress is in recess, and the House's atrocious transportation bill has been dismembered and delayed, but if you want to preserve funding for transit and active transportation, don't let your guard down yet. There's still plenty to watch out for as the House and Senate attempt to reauthorize federal transportation programs. As we've reported, there are some stark differences between the House and Senate bills. But what is scariest may be their similarities.

Both houses of Congress are in recess this week, putting off their mountain of unfinished transportation business until next Monday. The momentum carrying transportation bills forward in each chamber has eroded recently.

During the current push for multi-year transportation bill, the Senate has been known more for its spirit of bipartisanship than any visionary policy advances. Now that the bill has hit the Senate floor, however, it's getting a little ugly.

When Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama balked at the increase in transportation spending recommended by President Obama's 2013 budget, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood did not mince words: "America is one big pothole," he said.

The Senate picked the right day to make themselves look good by comparison.

The Senate Finance Committee is currently marking up what lawmakers have christened the "Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012," the final component of the Senate's two-year transportation bill. This portion of the bill, put together by committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT), is responsible for the "pay-for" -- identifying approximately $13 billion in funding needed to align the bill's spending with its revenue. As of yesterday the committee had announced only a little more than $10 billion in "found" revenue.

While their colleagues in the House were debating more than 80 amendments to a transportation bill, members of the Senate Banking Committee were quietly passing their two-year transit bill with -- get this -- unanimous bipartisan support. The bill includes some reforms -- such as allowing federal funds to be spent on transit operations -- that transit advocates have been pushing for.