U.S. Senate
Little-Known Provision in Senate Jobs Bill Could Spark House Resistance
The Senate passed its jobs bill today by a 70-28 vote, bringing Congress one step closer to a $20 billion transfer that would keep the nation's highway trust fund solvent until 2011 and extend the 2005 federal transportation law.
February 24, 2010
Voinovich Secures Dem Promise to Hold a Senate Vote on Transpo in 2010
Compelling infrastructure news out of the Senate last night: The long-delayed successor to the 2005 federal transportation law could come to a vote sooner than the spring 2011 timetable sought by the Obama administration, thanks to a promise secured by Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) in exchange for his vote in favor of the Democratic jobs bill.
February 23, 2010
17 Democrats Urge Reid: Don’t Forget Infrastructure in Your Jobs Push
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to call up a job creation bill on Monday that includes a stopgap rescue of the highway trust fund but none of the new infrastructure spending okayed by the House. Even that pared-down measure faces a GOP filibuster threat, but many Democrats remain undaunted in their push for more federal aid.
February 18, 2010
Road and Transit Groups Join Boxer to Push for Senate Jobs Bill
Representatives from Washington's road and transit lobbies joined Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today to call for swift passage of job-creation legislation that is slated for a vote in the upper chamber of Congress on Monday.
February 17, 2010
Bipartisan Senate Jobs Bill Has Highway Trust Fund Rescue But No TIGER
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and his panel's senior Republican, Chuck Grassley (IA), today offered a job-creation proposal designed to garner enough GOP votes to overcome an anticipated filibuster.
February 11, 2010
Senate Dems to Call Up Jobs Bill Monday … With Transport Details TBA
Senate Democratic leaders appeared this morning to tout their commitment to passing a job-creation bill by the end of next week -- but the substance of their jobs measure, including the fate of pivotal transportation provisions, remains up in the air.
February 4, 2010
Senate Weighs $14B for Roads, $7.5B for Transit in Jobs Bill
Senate Democrats huddled behind closed doors this afternoon to assess their options for a new job-creation bill, with one option of around $80 billion making headlines even second-ranked leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) warned that no details are set in stone.
January 26, 2010
Should a Climate Bill Even Try to Fight Sprawl?
The potential for a cap-and-trade climate bill to set aside significant amounts of money for reforming local land use and transportation planning is often touted by Democrats, environmental groups, and this particular Streetsblogger.
January 11, 2010
Could Rail be the Sleeper Issue in the Connecticut Senate Race?
After Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-CT) retirement propelled popular Attorney General Richard Blumenthal into Connecticut's 2010 Senate race, ex-Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) now faces a more difficult bid -- one described by his own pollster as a "war of attrition." So it's worth asking what role the state's lengthy transportation to-do list will play in the campaign.
January 8, 2010