House passes short extension of transportation bill, moves to jobs bill
December 16, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
A few hours ago, the House passed a $636 billion defense spending bill that included a two-month extension of the federal transportation law. Don’t count on two months as the final length of an extension though — House members are hedging their bets.
Later today, the House will vote on a separate $174 billion jobs bill. Tucked inside that bill is a longer extension of the 2005 transportation bill that would extend SAFETEA-LU all the way to the end of September 2010.
With the health care logjam preventing the Senate from considering any other meaningful or controversial legislation, House leaders know the chances of the Senate acting on their jobs bill before January are virtually nil. But the Senate is expected to approve the defense spending bill that includes the two-month extension before Christmas. We assume House members hope the Senate will come back from recess and pass the jobs bill with the longer extension early in 2010.
Along with the nine-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, the jobs bill also provides $36.7 billion to states for transportation investments. Elana Schor had an early breakdown on Streetsblog Capitol Hill, but read on below the jump for some details about the money included for transportation.
For the most part, the balance of funding is the same as the economic recovery act (ARRA) from February, with a few notable exceptions. There are no competitive TIGER grants or additional money for high speed rail in this version, but it does include the flexibility to use 10 percent of transit funds on operating assistance to preserve service and jobs.
Highway Funding: $27.5 billion total
- $60 million for competitive grants to serve ‘priority primary routes’
- $20 million for disadvantaged business enterprises bonding assistance
- 3% set-aside for Transportation Enhancements (We’re checking on this. This number seems lower than it should be)
- 30% sub-allocated to metropolitan areas
- Priority should be given to projects in economically distressed areas and those that can be completed within a 3-year timeframe
Transit Funding: $8.4 billion total
- $6.15 billion for formula grants
- $100 million for discretionary greenhouse gas grants to transit agencies
- $500 million for New Starts/Small Starts
- $1.75 billion for Fixed Guideway (Rail) Modernization
- Allows up to 10% of formula funding to be used for operating assistance
- Priority to economically distressed areas
Total Intercity Rail Funding: $800 million
- $800 million for Amtrak for fleet modernization (Streetsblog DC points out the connection to GE’s clean locomotives here)
Stay tuned via twitter with @t4america and @eschor if you want to follow the likely vote this afternoon.
Comments are open
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- Transit grants out the federal door, but what about the cuts?
March 8, 2010 - Transit riders in Atlanta face massive cuts, “wholesale restructuring” of service
March 5, 2010 - Opposition to Senate extension results in looming shutdown of federal transportation programs
February 26, 2010 - T4 jobs proposal would create nearly half a million jobs, according to Economic Policy Institute
February 17, 2010 - Obama’s 2011 budget gives a lift to livability and transportation
February 2, 2010
- Transit grants out the federal door, but what about the cuts?
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