Recent Streetsblog USA posts about 2009 Transportation Bill

Team Obama’s Transportation Chain of Command: ‘A Bit Complicated’

By Elana Schor | Jul 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

It’s no secret that key leaders of the House transportation panel and the White House economic team don’t get along — from quips about shovel skills to a stimulus "shouting match," committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and his top lieutenant, Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-OR), have become two of their party’s leading Obama administration skeptics. Rep. […]

Understanding Washington’s Metro Crash

By Ryan Avent | Jul 15, 2009 | 2 Comments

The scene of June 22nd’s Washington D.C. Metro crash. (Photo: AP) The House of Representatives subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia convened yesterday afternoon to hear testimony related to the tragic Washington Metro accident of June 22. The proceedings got off to an appropriately somber start, as California Representative […]

Lawmakers Cross Party Lines on Transpo Funding as Debate Rages

By Elana Schor | Jul 15, 2009 | No Comments

An 18-month extension of existing transportation law cleared the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today, but not before spirited debate on a proposal billed as a compromise with House members who remain strongly opposed to the Senate’s stopgap. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairman of theSenate environment committee (Photo: Politics Now) The "clean" re-upping of the […]

Voinovich Joins House Dems in Saying No to Transpo Funding Stopgap

By Elana Schor | Jul 14, 2009 | No Comments

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) allied with House Democrats today. (Photo: UPI) The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will move tomorrow on a White House-backed extension of the four-year-old federal transportation law, but at least one of its members is already opposed. George Voinovich (R-OH) linked arms with House Democratic leaders on the transportation panel […]

Obama’s Agenda for Cities: Enough Talk

By Ryan Avent | Jul 14, 2009 | No Comments

In closing his speech to a roundtable on urban and metropolitan issues, given yesterday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Barack Obama quoted Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, who famously urged men to "make no small plans." It’s a nice line for leaders with big goals, but it’s worth noting that Burnham wasn’t all talk. Does […]

Did Pelosi Just Side With Oberstar on the Transpo Bill?

By Elana Schor | Jul 9, 2009 | 5 Comments

That’s the implication of a Roll Call story today that states: "Momentum Builds for Transportation Bill." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (Photo: moniquemonicat.wordpress.com) Here’s how the exchange in question played out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) weekly briefing. Pelosi was asked for her position on a possible second stimulus bill, and she replied: I […]

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