Recent Streetsblog USA posts about U.S. Senate

Transpo Bills Delayed in House and Senate as Congress Enters Recess

By Ben Goldman | Feb 20, 2012 | No Comments

Both houses of Congress are in recess this week, putting off their mountain of unfinished transportation business until next Monday. The momentum carrying transportation bills forward in each chamber has eroded recently. Last week, the House split its transportation bill — the one that eliminates dedicated funding for transit, bicycling, and walking — into three […]

Boxer Pessimistic on Senate Bill as Parliamentary Sabotage Rears Its Head

By Ben Goldman | Feb 16, 2012 | 1 Comment

During the current push for multi-year transportation bill, the Senate has been known more for its spirit of bipartisanship than any visionary policy advances. Now that the bill has hit the Senate floor, however, it’s getting a little ugly. Republican Senators have proposed a number of contentious amendments in order to stall the bill’s passage. […]

LaHood Defends Spending War Savings on $476B Transportation Plan

By Ben Goldman | Feb 16, 2012 | No Comments

When Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama balked at the increase in transportation spending recommended by President Obama’s 2013 budget, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood did not mince words: “America is one big pothole,” he said. LaHood was testifying before the Senate Budget Committee yesterday to explain and defend the President’s proposed transportation budget, as he […]

Senate Transportation Bill Clears First Floor Vote, 85-11

By Ben Goldman | Feb 9, 2012 | 2 Comments

The Senate picked the right day to make themselves look good by comparison. Today saw a massive mobilization of opposition to House Speaker John Boehner’s five-year disaster of a transportation bill, even as he defended it at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. Meanwhile, the Senate voted 85-11 to move forward with Senator Barbara […]

Baucus Adds Transit Tax Benefit to Senate Transpo Bill

By Ben Goldman | Feb 7, 2012 | No Comments

The Senate Finance Committee is currently marking up what lawmakers have christened the “Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012,” the final component of the Senate’s two-year transportation bill. This portion of the bill, put together by committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT), is responsible for the “pay-for” — identifying approximately $13 billion […]

Senate Transit Bill Clears Committee With Unanimous Bipartisan Support

By Ben Goldman | Feb 2, 2012 | No Comments

While their colleagues in the House were debating more than 80 amendments to a transportation bill, members of the Senate Banking Committee were quietly passing their two-year transit bill with — get this — unanimous bipartisan support. The bill includes some reforms — such as allowing federal funds to be spent on transit operations — […]

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