U.S. Senate
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LaHood Faces Off With GOP Senator Over High-Speed Rail, Livability
When Cabinet secretaries appear in front of Congress' appropriations
committees, which control the annual budgets for each federal agency,
the proceedings tend to be dry affairs dominated by local concerns and
arcane fiscal debates.
March 4, 2010
Senate Starts Work on New Transport Bill, With House Version as a Guide
The Senate today took its first steps towards voting on a new
long-term federal transportation bill, with environment committee
chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) vowing to take up a successor to the 2005
infrastructure law before 2011 and indicating she would use the
House's already-introduced
version as a framework.
March 3, 2010
TCS: Disputed Transport Provision in Jobs Bill Rewarded Political Clout
A provision in the Senate jobs bill that would distribute $932 million in 2010 transportation funding based on existing earmarks is in line for a quick fix, thanks to a deal
struck on Friday between House transportation committee chairman Jim
Oberstar (D-MN) and Democratic leaders in the upper chamber.
March 2, 2010
Transportation Filibuster Update: Bunning Won’t Yield to Fellow GOPer
Federal infrastructure funding and many U.S. DOT workers remain in
limbo today as Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) continues his one-man filibuster
of legislation extending the 2005 transport law, turning himself into a
Democratic target and a poster child for Washington gridlock.
March 2, 2010
LaHood Backs Feingold’s Plan to Cancel Unspent Transport Earmarks
When a member of Congress earmarks transportation money for a local project, the funding isn't always spent in a timely manner. The Bush administration's final budget proposed to cancel road earmarks that had sat largely unspent for 10 years, a move that would have freed up $626 million, according to Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI).
February 26, 2010
The Big Question: What is the Purpose of Federal Transportation Spending?
With the White House's agenda crowded by high-profile debates that
remain unresolved after lengthy talks with Congress -- think health
care, financial regulation, even unemployment benefits
-- only a handful of lawmakers are publicly engaging with the dominant
issues surrounding the next long-term federal transportation bill.
February 26, 2010
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
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
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