Transportation For America Amendments to the House transportation bill we're tracking

Amendments to the House transportation bill we’re tracking

3 Nov 2015 | Posted by Steve Davis | 1 Comment | Amendment Tracker, Amendments, House, STRR Act

The Rules Committee is considering which amendments to the House transportation bill to send to the full House, which will begin debating and voting on them over the course of this week. We’ll be tracking a handful of these amendments closely and you can find out more about each of them right here.

Bookmark this page and table — we’ll be fleshing out this post over the coming 24-48 hours with more information on some of the amendments and keeping it updated as the Rules Committee finishes approving or rejecting amendments, and as the full House begins debating and voting on them and their multi-year transportation bill. Debate on the House floor begins today, and the Rules Committee is expected to finish up deciding on the 250-plus amendments by this evening. (The Rules Committee’s full list of amendments and their status can be found here.)

Amendments that we’re tracking

Improvements or helpful changes

Amendment number	Description	Offered by	Rules Committee Approve? (Y/N)	Final floor outcome
#18 - TOD in RRIF (sense of Congress)	(Nonbinding) bipartisan amendment to express the Sense of Congress that TOD is an eligible activity under the Railroad Rehabilitation Improvement Financing program (RRIF). (See #37 below, which would actually make this policy change binding.)	Reps. Lipinski, Quigley, Dold	Approved	Not offered
#21 - Improved project selection process	This would improve planning and project selection performance measures and transparency.	Rep. Desaulnier	Approved	Rejected by recorded vote.
#37 - TOD in RRIF	Bipartisan amendment to make transit-oriented development projects (TOD) eligible for funding from the Railroad Rehabilitation Improvement Financing program (RRIF).	Reps. Lipinski, Quigley, Dold	Rejected by Rules	n/a
#47 - Ped safety performance measures	This would require a study and rule on safety standards or performance measures to improve pedestrian safety.	Rep. Schakowsky	Rejected by Rules	n/a
#66 - Ped safety	Bipartisan amendment to create a new national priority program for non-motorized safety, increase the number of states eligible for funding through the non-motorized National Priority Safety Program, and double the funding for that program.	Reps. Blumenauer and Buchanan	Approved	Rejected by voice vote
#75 - Accessibility performance measures	This would establish performance measures for accessibility for low-income and minority populations and people with disabilities; cumulative increase in residents’ connection to jobs; and the variety of transportation choices available to users, such as public transportation, bike and pedestrian pathways, and roads and highways. (This improves upon the changes made in the committee markup by Rep. Carson's amendment. See #7 in our "Ten Things" post.)	Reps. Ellison, Grijalva, Waters and Huffman	Rejected by Rules	n/a
#87 - CMAQ funds for bikesharing & shared mobility	Bipartisan amendment to make innovative new shared mobility options like bikesharing, carsharing, and transportation network companies, among others, eligible to receive funds from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement and Federal Transit Administration programs. Expands associated transit improvements to include these shared-use projects that can directly enhance transit.	Reps. Swalwell and Schweikert	Approved	Rejected, 181-237
#101 - TIFIA loans for TOD projects	Bipartisan amendment to make transit-oriented development projects eligible to receive low-cost TIFIA loans, and lower the threshold for loans from $50 million down to $10 million to help smaller projects access the program — both of which are zero cost to the program. (This amendment was offered in markup but not voted on. See #3 in our amendment tracker from the committee markup.)	Reps. Edwards and Comstock	Rejected by Rules	n/a
#110 - Restore transit flexibility	Bipartisan amendment to restore the current ability that states and metros have to flex federal CMAQ funds toward New Starts projects — increasing the possible federal share of these projects back up to 80 percent from the reduced federal match of 50 percent in the STRR Act. But this amendment would not change the STRR Act's restriction on states or metros using their Surface Transportation Program funding as local matching dollars. (Read more about the STRR Act's changes for transit in #5 in our "Ten Things" explainer, though this amendment does not fix the reduction in federal match from 80 to 50 percent.	Reps. Nadler, Lipinski, Dold	Approved but modified	Approved as modified
#131 - Local control	Bipartisan amendment to increase the total amount of flexible funds, send more money directly to local communities, and improve the process by which the state chooses projects to fund in smaller communities with fewer than 200,000 people. Read more about the Davis-Titus amendment in #3 of our "Ten Things" explainer.)	Introduced by Reps. Davis and Titus (and co-sponsored by Reps. Rouzer, Lipinski, Frankel, Edwards, Rokita, Bustos, Moore and Gwen	Rejected by Rules	n/a

Potentially damaging changes

Amendment number	Description	Offered by	Rules Committee approve? (Y/N)	Final floor outcome
#8 - No additional road landscaping	Repeals the ability for the Secretary of Transportation to approve the cost of landscaping and roadside development as eligible project costs for highway projects	Rep. Hartzler	Approved	Rejected, 172-255
#26 - No federal funding for streetcars	Prohibits Federal financial assistance for any project or activity to establish, maintain, operate, or otherwise support a streetcar service.	Rep. Russell	Approved	Rejected by voice vote
#41 - Opting out of federal transportation program	Provides the authority for states that raise transportation revenue to opt out of the federal program entirely, provided OMB scores the provision as deficit neutral.	Rep. Garrett	Rejected by Rules	n/a
#63 - Debt to equity for transit agencies	Requires transit agencies to have a debt-to-equity ratio of 1:1 to be eligible to receive any federal capital or operating funds.	Rep. Culberson	Approved	Rejected, 116-313
#68 - Metros can flex funds away from TAP projects	Allows large metropolitan planning organizations that control Transportation Alternatives Program funds to shift 100 percent of those TAP funds away from the required competition process and toward non-biking and walking projects.	Rep. Carter (GA)	Rejected by Rules	n/a
#69 - Removes STP flexibility for TAP projects	Removes the eligibility for flexible Surface Transportation Program funds to be spent on Transportation Alternatives Program projects and repeals the small Recreational Trails program	Rep. Carter (GA)	Withdrawn	n/a
#158 - Ending recreational trails program	Repeals Recreational Trails program funding, though it was modified to strike eligibility only for non-motorized recreational trails, still allowing funding for motorized recreational trails (ATVs, motorcycles, etc.)	Rep. Yoho	Rejected by Rules	n/a
#180 - (Sense of Congress) to end federal program	(Nonbinding) Sense of Congress that we should transfer authority for most taxing and spending for highway programs and mass transit programs to states.	Rep. DeSantis	Approved	Rejected, 118-310

1 Comment

Irvin Dawd
9 years ago

Good news: The bi-partisan amendment known as the Safe, Flexible, and Efficient (SAFE) Trucking Act (pdf) from Reps. Reid Ribble, aka big and heavy trucks, was rejected by a House floor vote, reports Keith Laing of The Hill on Tuesday
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/259048-house-rejects-highway-bill-amendment-to-allow-heavier-trucks!