Transport and the Tea Party: How Conservatives Talk About the Gas Tax
The passage of health care legislation this week, while elating
Democrats, has proven an equally potent motivator for conservatives
advocates of states' rights. Appearing on Sean Hannity's Fox News show
last night, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) was asked about the viability of the
legal challenge to the health bill filed
by 14 mostly conservative attorneys general.
March 25, 2010
Home Builders Net More Than $2.6B From Tax Break in Stimulus Law
The home-building industry scored a big win last year when Congress voted to double the tax credit for new home buyers and extend the break until next month. But that’s not the only legislative move that’s leaving smiles on home builders’ faces. (Photo: USDA) A tax break included in the Obama administration’s stimulus law is … Continued
March 25, 2010
Bids For Federal Streetcar Aid Top Available Money by Nearly Tenfold
After announcing $130 million in new streetcar grants in
December, the Obama administration received more than $1.1 billion
in applications, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff
told lawmakers today -- offering more evidence of the growing local
enthusiasm for competitive transportation funding that began with the
stimulus law's TIGER
grant program.
March 24, 2010
Feds Begin Redefining ‘Affordable Housing’ to Include Transport Costs
The process of
expanding the federal government's definition of "affordable housing," a
stated goal of the Obama administration's sustainable
communities effort, began in earnest yesterday with the
introduction of a new index that
integrates transportation prices into the cost of living for hundreds of
metro areas.
March 24, 2010
EPA Drops Data Before GOP Forces Shutdown of Transportation Hearing
The Senate environment panel today was forced to prematurely shutter
its latest hearing on the next long-term federal transportation bill
after Republicans invoked a rarely-used right to close down committee
work as part of their broader
protest against the majority party's health care legislation.
March 24, 2010
Transit Operating Aid Bill Doesn’t Fly With Major Transit Lobby
A burgeoning congressional
push to let urban transit agencies tap federal funds for operating
their systems is not sitting well with the transit industry's largest
D.C. lobbying group, the American Public Transportation Association
(APTA).
March 23, 2010
Senate Health Bill Approved: What it Means for Transportation
After 14 months of drama, deal-making, and declarations
of its demise, the health care legislation envisioned by President
Obama and congressional Democrats finally
cleared its biggest hurdle last night, with the House approving the
Senate-passed measure on a 219-212 vote.
March 22, 2010
Inhofe: California is Dictating to Feds on Auto Fuel Efficiency
The senior Republican on the Senate environment panel has
criticized the House transportation bill for strengthening federal
involvement at the expense of states -- but when it comes to last year's
agreement
to raise national fuel-efficiency standards, Sen. Jim Inhofe (OK)
is making the opposite argument, accusing the White House of letting one
state dictate auto policy.
March 22, 2010
Transit Industry Group Adds a Caveat to Its Stance on Operating Aid
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), which has represented
the transit industry in Washington for more than 120 years, has openly
welcomed the year-long
push for Congress to relax longstanding rules that prevent large
urban agencies to spend federal grant money on their operating costs.
March 19, 2010
Transport Fix to Jobs Bill Would Take $192M From CA, Send $76M to TX
Fixing a disputed
provision in the jobs bill that President Obama signed into law yesterday
-- as Senate Democratic leaders promised House transportation committee
chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) following complaints by several members of
his panel -- would involve the redistribution of $932 million in
funding for two major federal road and rail programs.
March 19, 2010