Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Federal Funding

With Contraception Vote Over, Senate Can Finally Get to Transpo Issues

By Ben Goldman | Mar 1, 2012 | 1 Comment

The U.S. Senate voted 51-48 today to reject an amendment to their transportation bill that would overturn measures in President Obama’s signature health care law dealing with contraception coverage. The vote clears the way for the Senate to finally begin considering actual transportation issues rather than dealing with delay tactics. The so-called “conscience” amendment, proposed […]

House Scales Back Transpo Bill But Keeps on Attacking Safe Streets

By Ben Goldman | Mar 1, 2012 | 2 Comments

UPDATE (3:45 p.m.): Citing a lack of support from his colleagues, Speaker John Boehner has dropped his 18-month transportation proposal and has not yet offered an alternative, according to Politico. “A five-year bill is the best way to do this,” he said. We’ve known for a few days now that the House, in the wake […]

Flashback: Ronald Reagan Touts Gas Tax Hike, Transit Funding as Job Creators

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 16, 2012 | 8 Comments

On January 6, 1983, the icon of the modern conservative movement, Ronald Reagan, signed legislation to raise the gas tax for the first time in more than two decades, devoting a portion of the revenue to transit. We’ve been reading about this moment a lot, as the current GOP leadership in the House tries to […]

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 […]

Obama Budget Proposes $476 Billion for Transportation Over Six Years

By Ben Goldman | Feb 13, 2012 | 3 Comments

President Obama has released his budget request for the 2013 fiscal year, which includes a proposed $476 billion investment in transportation over six years. High-speed rail, mass transit, and bridge repair would get a big boost under Obama’s plan, which is paid for primarily by war savings as America’s troop presence is drawn down in […]

Why the House Transportation Bill Hits Bus Riders Especially Hard

By Ben Goldman | Feb 10, 2012 | No Comments

When the House Ways and Means Committee voted to divert all gas tax revenue away from transit projects, severing transit’s only dedicated source of federal funds, they were essentially throwing transit riders under the bus. While the House’s official stance is that their proposal still somehow guarantees funding for transit, it really does anything but. “It’s […]

Show More Stories