Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about U.S. Senate

In the Works: Senate Bill to Promote Sustainable Development

By Elana Schor | Jun 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

In Washington politics, the term "kumbaya moment" is used to describe those rare occasions when self-interested stakeholders join hands to support a set of reforms. And today’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee by the chiefs of three Cabinet departments — Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency — definitely qualified for […]

Congress Agrees to Keep Transit Operating Aid in War Bill

By Elana Schor | Jun 12, 2009 | 2 Comments

Photo: jough [formerly jough]/Flickr House and Senate negotiators struck a deal last night on a $106 billion war spending bill that also gives cash-strapped transit agencies the ability to use 10 percent of their economic stimulus grants to pay operating costs. The issue of operating costs has heated up in recent weeks, with local transit […]

When Will Oberstar’s Transportation Bill Drop? Place Your Bets Now

By Elana Schor | Jun 10, 2009 | 1 Comment

At first it was slated to emerge by June 1. Then its release was said to slip to this week. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) now plans to release his version of the six-year federal transportation bill by the end of the month, with a full House vote unlikely to come […]

Lawmakers Push for Federal Help With Transit Operating: Read the Letter

By Elana Schor | Jun 9, 2009 | 3 Comments

The House and Senate are racing to reach agreement on a $90 billion bill to keep the Iraq and Afghanistan wars funded, but the legislation also could mark a pivotal victory for transit. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). Photo: UPI The Senate version of the war bill contains a provision that would allow transit agencies to […]

GOP-ers and Dems Agree: Feds Need to Get Their Transpo Act Together

By Elana Schor | Jun 9, 2009 | 8 Comments

Reports on federal transportation policy — like campaign fundraisers and lobbying groups — seem to proliferate in Washington, most of them drawing a few days’ worth of news coverage before fading from memory. (Remember the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission?) Former Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA), […]

Congress Takes a First Step Towards Reshaping Transportation Policy

By Elana Schor | May 14, 2009 | 5 Comments

Could Washington’s long, unhealthy love affair with the automobile be coming to an end? An encouraging sign of change came today from two powerful Democratic senators who released a proposal that sets out progressive goals for the upcoming federal transportation bill. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) (Photo by Washington Post) Today’s proposal, sponsored […]

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