Reauthorization
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
Boxer Clarifies: Transportation Enhancements Will Remain in the Bill
We reported this morning that there seemed to be some distance between how Sen. Barbara Boxer understands the deal with Sen. Tom Coburn and how Coburn understands it. To clarify, Boxer just issued this statement:
September 16, 2011
Last-Minute Deal Preserves Bike/Ped Funding. But For How Long?
UPDATED with comments from Sen. Tom Coburn's staff.
September 16, 2011
T4America to Sen. Coburn: Cutting Bike/Ped Won’t Fix Oklahoma’s Problems
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.”
September 14, 2011
Coburn Blocks Quick Senate Vote on Transportation Extension
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.
September 14, 2011
How Dangerous is Sen. Coburn’s Amendment to Kill Bike/Ped Funding?
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.
September 14, 2011
House and Senate Agree on 6-Month Transpo Extension
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.
September 12, 2011
Inhofe Supports Clean Extension, Won’t Vote Against Bike/Ped (This Time)
The Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously agreed this morning to send a four-month extension of the transportation bill to the full Senate. Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) emphasized that it wasn’t easy to get consensus on the extension, especially with many members wanting to move forward with the full two-year bill.
September 8, 2011
The Consequences of Political Foot-Dragging
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is meeting tomorrow to discuss a four-month extension to the current transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU. The map above is from a short but powerful document the Federal Transit Administration put out this week explaining "The Impacts of Failing to Extend Surface Transportation Funding" [PDF]. How much transit work would grind to a halt in your state without an extension?
September 7, 2011
The Senate’s “Dr. No” Says He’ll Block An Extension Unless Bike/Ped Is Cut
Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn is known around the Senate as "Dr. No" for his propensity to hold up key legislation, single-handedly, because it contains something not to his liking (or sometimes because he's upset about something else entirely.) On Veterans Day in 2009, he shocked even his GOP colleagues by blocking veterans' benefits because he wanted their cost to be offset. Because of a Senate rule requiring unanimity for certain votes, he alone has been able to block votes on wilderness protections, health care provisions, and disarmament in Uganda.
September 6, 2011