Recent Streetsblog USA posts about U.S. Senate

Deal Imminent?

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 21, 2012 | No Comments

We’re hearing reports that a deal on the surface transportation bill is imminent. We’ll let you know when we hear more. Could it be that the Walz Motion to Instruct lit a fire under the conferees? Three more motions are about to be voted on, assuming peace doesn’t break out first. One, sponsored by Rep. […]

Extension(s) Imminent — a Reflection on Neverending Transpo Gridlock

By Ben Goldman | Jun 19, 2012 | 1 Comment

For the past six months, I have had the enviable task (seriously) of tracing the path of federal transportation legislation through Congress. And look how far we’ve come! When I first took the editor’s chair in January, transportation funds were drying up, the deadline for a new bill was fast approaching, and none of the news […]

Boxer Changes Her Tone, Adopts a Fighting Stance

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 14, 2012 | 1 Comment

The transportation bill conference committee negotiations have been difficult and contentious, by all accounts — all except Senator Barbara Boxer’s account. The EPW chair has been optimistic when others have been bitter, consistently focusing on how much the two sides agree rather than the places where they’re still far apart. But that seemed to change with […]

Why Congress Must Save the American Community Survey

By Noel Popwell | Jun 12, 2012 | 11 Comments

As if the drama surrounding the reauthorization weren’t enough, there is another transportation battle brewing between the House and Senate. Last month, the House voted to eliminate funding for the American Community Survey, which is the Census Bureau’s way of getting a yearly pulse-check of how the country is doing and where investment is needed. […]

Conference Devolves Into Talk of Extensions

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 7, 2012 | 3 Comments

If you were still hoping a real bill could come out of the transportation conference, here’s a bitter pill: House Speaker John Boehner is now talking about a six-month extension of the current law. That extension would expire at the end of the year, along with such a massive bundle of economic initiatives that the […]

Pelosi Challenges Boehner to Cancel Recess, Pound Out a Transpo Bill

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 6, 2012 | No Comments

All play and no work makes Jack an unemployed construction worker. That, more or less, was Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s message to Speaker John Boehner today. She called on him to cancel next week’s recess and work on passing a transportation bill, now struggling through a divisive conference process. “Almost three months after Senate passage [of the […]

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