Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Transport and the Tea Party: How Conservatives Talk About the Gas Tax

By Elana Schor | Mar 25, 2010 | 6 Comments

The passage of health care legislation this week, while elating Democrats, has proven an equally potent motivator for conservatives advocates of states’ rights. Appearing on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) was asked about the viability of the legal challenge to the health bill filed by 14 mostly conservative attorneys […]

Home Builders Net More Than $2.6B From Tax Break in Stimulus Law

By Elana Schor | Mar 24, 2010 | 3 Comments

The home-building industry scored a big win last year when Congress voted to double the tax credit for new home buyers and extend the break until next month. But that’s not the only legislative move that’s leaving smiles on home builders’ faces. (Photo: USDA) A tax break included in the Obama administration’s stimulus law is […]

EPA Drops Data Before GOP Forces Shutdown of Transportation Hearing

By Elana Schor | Mar 24, 2010 | No Comments

The Senate environment panel today was forced to prematurely shutter its latest hearing on the next long-term federal transportation bill after Republicans invoked a rarely-used right to close down committee work as part of their broader protest against the majority party’s health care legislation. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), center, with Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) at […]

Feds Begin Redefining ‘Affordable Housing’ to Include Transport Costs

By Elana Schor | Mar 24, 2010 | 9 Comments

Comparing the transportation savings in dense versus dispersed neighborhoods for a dozen U.S. metro areas. (Chart: CNT) The process of expanding the federal government’s definition of "affordable housing," a stated goal of the Obama administration’s sustainable communities effort, began in earnest yesterday with the introduction of a new index that integrates transportation prices into the […]

Bids For Federal Streetcar Aid Top Available Money by Nearly Tenfold

By Elana Schor | Mar 23, 2010 | 2 Comments

After announcing $130 million in new streetcar grants in December, the Obama administration received more than $1.1 billion in applications, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff told lawmakers today — offering more evidence of the growing local enthusiasm for competitive transportation funding that began with the stimulus law’s TIGER grant program. New Orleans, above, […]

Transit Operating Aid Bill Doesn’t Fly With Major D.C. Transit Group

By Elana Schor | Mar 23, 2010 | 8 Comments

A burgeoning congressional push to let urban transit agencies tap federal funds for operating their systems is not sitting well with the transit industry’s largest D.C. lobbying group, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). A rail car from New York City’s transit authority, one of APTA’s biggest members. (Photo: TreeHugger) Paul Dean, APTA’s government relations […]

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