Ben Goldman
Recent Posts
How Local Transportation Decisions Can Put Public Health Front and Center
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Transportation projects often have profound consequences for public health, whether negative (in the case of fossil fuel-burning highway expansions) or positive (in the case of calorie-burning bike-friendly, walkable streets). So why don’t cities and states always consider health impacts when evaluating a transportation project or policy? That’s the question at the heart of a new […]
Proposed Federal Transit Safety Regs Under Scrutiny From House Panel
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In June 2009, a fatal crash on the D.C. Metro prompted federal lawmakers to consider adding a new layer of transit safety oversight. Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, introduced the National Metro Safety Act of 2009 to establish national safety standards for transit systems. It was never enacted, but it certainly raised the issue’s profile, and Transportation […]
Congress Agrees to Kick the Can for 90 More Days
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Yesterday, before taking off for a two-week recess, Congress passed a three-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, the ninth since it first expired on September 30, 2009. It now only needs the president’s signature sometime before midnight on Saturday to become law. That means that on June 26, 2012, current transportation policy will have been operating under […]
Live-Blogging the Senate Transportation Extension Debate & Vote
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The House of Representatives passed a 90-day extension of transportation programs by a vote of 266-158 shortly before noon today. The Senate passed it soon after by an unrecorded voice vote, but only after several Democrats tried (unsuccessfully) to replace the extension’s text with that of their own two-year reauthorization bill. The extension is now […]
House GOP Is Back to a 90-Day Extension, Will See Debate Tomorrow
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Another day, another another twist in the House’s efforts to pass a transportation bill. Yesterday’s postponed vote on a 60-day extension had initially been rescheduled for tonight, but that too will be scrapped, making it the third time the House has punted a vote on an extension in as many days. House transportation committee chairman […]
The Utter Futility of a Gas Tax “Holiday”
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Disclaimer: The House and Senate, in the grand scheme of things, have plenty of time to hack together a short-term extension of transportation funding, or even to pass the Senate bill outright if they felt like it. Sometimes, though, to the outside observer (even to the cross-eyed reporter) it sure does look like we could […]
House Schedules, Skips, Debates, Ultimately Delays Vote on 60-Day Extension
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It’s like Congressional Whack-a-Mole: Transportation bills pop up just long enough to offer a fleeting glimpse before they retract back into oblivion. Yesterday’s vote on a 90-day extension of federal transportation funding was pulled at the last second, then replaced by a vote today on a 60-day extension. That extension even made it to the […]
No Vote on 90-Day Transpo Extension Tonight After All
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False alarm… House Republicans delay Monday’s vote on short-term highway bill t.co/re597esi — The Hill (@hilltransport) March 26, 2012 Route on highway bill still unclear. Boehner spox says a “vote on an extension will occur later this week rather than tonight.” — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 26, 2012 It looks like some dealmaking may still […]
How the House Transpo Extension Hurts the Senate’s Two-Year Bill
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Congress has five days in which to pass an extension of transportation funding. That means there will be a flurry of activity on the Hill this week to avoid a shutdown of federal transportation programs on April 1. (It also means there will be a flurry of “April Fools” references directed by and at opposing […]
GOP Budget Would Cut Transpo to the Bone
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Wednesday night, the House Budget Committee narrowly passed — by one vote — the 2013 federal budget proposed by chairman Paul Ryan. It calls for all kinds of spending cuts, casts aside the bargains struck during last year’s budget debacle, and asserts that by 2050, all federal spending outside of entitlement programs (Medicare, Medicaid) should only equal […]
House to Vote on 9th Transpo Extension Just as Time and Money Run Out
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Reps. John Mica, Dave Camp, and John Duncan have formally introduced a bill that would extend federal transportation programs until June 30, without any changes to funding, policy, or gas taxes. It is officially known as H.R. 4239. The 90-day extension would be the ninth passed since the last long-term transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, expired in […]
Senate Bill Introduced in House, Mica Plans to Unveil Extension Tomorrow
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Two press releases from the House seem to indicate that members have emerged from recess intending to do something other than nothing. The first is from Transportation and Infrastructure chairman John Mica: Tomorrow, I will introduce a short-term extension through June 30th to ensure continuity of current programs while I and House Republicans continue to work […]