John Mica
Amtrak Foe Mica Meets His Match in John Robert Smith
I just sat through a pretty boring hearing on rail financing. But I’m glad I stuck it out, because the fireworks came at the end, when Rep. John Mica picked a fight with the wrong man.
July 9, 2013
Mica Won’t Let His Grudge Against Amtrak Die, Revives Privatization Scheme
Rep. John Mica (R-FL) no longer chairs the House Transportation Committee, but that doesn’t mean he’s eased up on his crusade against Amtrak. Calling the company a “Soviet style monopoly,” Mica used his afternoon address to the U.S. High Speed Rail Association to announce his plan to revive his despised and defeated measure to privatize parts of Amtrak.
February 13, 2013
Mica’s New Post Gives Him a Good Vantage Point For Sniping at Amtrak
Perhaps Rep. John Mica's most remarkable legacy as chair of the House Transportation Committee is the single-minded focus he gave to attacking Amtrak. Under the guise of wanting it to succeed, Mica has repeatedly excoriated it as a "Soviet-style monopoly" and a waste of taxpayer dollars. He's tried to sell off its only profitable line, the Northeast Corridor, and made a mockery of every aspect of its operations, right down to food service. If there's anything he got more glee out of criticizing, it was the Transportation Security Administration.
January 3, 2013
Mica Drops Chairmanship Bid, Endorses Shuster
Rep. John Mica (R-FL) has withdrawn from the running to remain chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He was up against Republican term limits, which specify that no Congressmember can spend more than six years as the highest-ranking member of their party on a committee -- regardless of whether that time is spent as chair of the committee (while their party is in the majority) or as ranking member (when in the minority).
November 27, 2012
Will the Next Transpo Chair Continue Attacks on Bike/Ped Funding?
This is the second of two posts examining Rep. Bill Shuster’s candidacy for the chairmanship of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Yesterday, we took a look at Shuster's positions on rail and his leadership style. Here we delve into his record on active transportation and the always-thorny topic of funding.
November 15, 2012
What Kind of Leadership Would Bill Shuster Bring to the Transpo Committee?
This is the first of two posts examining Rep. Bill Shuster's candidacy for the chairmanship of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. We'll post the second one, focused on his positions on bike/ped programs and funding issues, tomorrow.
November 14, 2012
UPDATE: Reminder: Amtrak Subsidies Pale in Comparison to Highway Subsidies
UPDATED 9/24 with chart.
September 21, 2012
House GOP Wants Amtrak Out of the Commuter Rail Business
At a highly politicized hearing on Tuesday, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica slammed "Amtrak's failure to compete with the private sector," arguing that the national rail company should stop bidding to run commuter rail services.
September 13, 2012
Mica: Transpo Bill Lasts Through September 2014
I was not expecting this: Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) just released a statement saying "the tentative agreement establishes federal highway, transit and highway safety policy and keeps programs at current funding levels through the end of fiscal year 2014." That's a full year longer than the Senate bill allowed for.
June 27, 2012
Boxer and Mica Release Vague Reassurance of Progress
Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. John Mica just released this statement:
June 21, 2012