Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about House of Representatives

Congress Trims TIGER (But Doesn’t Hack It to Pieces) in 2015 Spending Bill

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 15, 2014 | No Comments

The drama is over; the House and Senate have both passed the “cromnibus” spending bill [PDF] that funds government operations through the end of fiscal year 2015. And the Department of Transportation’s TIGER program survived. While small, TIGER has proven to be a significant source of funding for local transit and active transportation projects, enabling […]

Don’t Look Now, But the House Amtrak Bill Actually Has Some Good Ideas

By Tanya Snyder | Sep 16, 2014 | No Comments

Tomorrow, the House Transportation Committee will consider a bill that changes the nation’s policies on passenger rail. The proposal, while it includes some cuts, is a departure from the senseless vendetta many House Republicans have waged against Amtrak in the past. The National Association of Railroad Passengers, NARP, says the plan contains “commonsense regulatory and […]

Why the Next Fight Over Bike/Ped Funding Won’t Be Like the Last

By Tanya Snyder | Sep 11, 2014 | No Comments

When Congress passed a two-year transportation bill in 2012, active transportation advocates had to scrape and claw for every penny of funding for walking and biking programs. When the dust settled, it seemed they would have to repeat the same old battles when the law expired. Right now the current law is up for renewal […]

Congress Hits the Snooze Button on Transpo Funding Until May

By Tanya Snyder | Aug 1, 2014 | No Comments

Someone had to cave and last night, it was the Senate. The upper chamber had fought as long as it could to adjust the House transportation bill so it wouldn’t expire when the GOP controls both chambers of Congress. But senators were never willing to actually let the Highway Trust Fund go broke. U.S. DOT would […]

A Bipartisan Policy Breakthrough That Could Save Local Economies

By Beth Osborne | Jun 9, 2014 | No Comments

Beth Osborne was deputy assistant secretary for policy, and then acting assistant secretary, at the U.S. Department of Transportation from 2009 until March, when she joined Transportation for America. Members of Congress love to talk about local control. And with good reason: American voters tell pollsters over and over again that they trust the elected […]

House Bill Would Give Cities and Towns More Say Over Transpo Spending

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 3, 2014 | No Comments

A bill to give local governments greater access to transportation funds has bipartisan sponsors in the House of Representatives. The Innovation in Surface Transportation Act, introduced late last month, would let local communities access a much more significant share of federal transportation funds. The legislation would set aside a share of various federal programs that flow to […]

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