Amendments Archives - Transportation For America

Amendments we’re tracking to the House INVEST Act

The INVEST Act, which hits all three of Transportation for America’s three principles, is being considered this week on the House floor ahead of a final vote. There are a few key amendments being offered that could jeopardize these improvements, or further improve the already strong bill in support of our principles.

UPDATE (6/31): The INVEST Act was approved by House of Representatives! Read our full statement here. The amendments we were tracking have also all been voted upon. Jump straight to the tracker.

We heartily support the INVEST Act and encourage all representatives to vote for its passage, but well over 250 amendments were submitted to the INVEST Act to be considered before that final vote. We will be tracking the most notable amendments in a table below, but we want to draw your attention specifically to the seven amendments we will be paying careful attention to.

Transportation for America strongly supports five amendments to be included in the final bill:

Amendment #15 (Moulton): this amendment increases the PRIME passenger rail program funding by $5 billion total, to modernize and develop passenger rail service (especially critical and affordable interstate travel options) while also expanding existing rail corridors throughout the country.
Amendment #86 (Garcia (IL)): This amendment ensures that the street design manual used by all traffic engineers (the MUTCD) equitably accounts for all transportation users, especially cyclists and pedestrians. It furthermore directs the Secretary to update guidance on updating the MUTCD, targeting a four-year update cycle to ensure it stays current with evolving transportation needs.

The three following amendments from Rep. Hank Johnson would make changes to new and existing programs in the INVEST Act to help transit agencies run more buses and trains to serve more people. Rep. Johnson was proposing an amendment that would have created an entirely new program to fund transit operations, but it became clear that leadership is not allowing amendments to create entirely new programs at this point for the INVEST Act.

Amendment #133 (Johnson (GA)): This amendment increases the eligible funding for transit operating expenses from the Carbon Pollution Reduction Program up to 20 percent, allowing states to use these funds to make transit service more frequent and reliable—which has a notable impact on carbon reduction.
Amendment #139 (Johnson (GA)): This amendment prioritizes transit operations expenses in the Reducing Transit Deserts grant program by removing construction of maintenance facilities as an eligible expense. Maintenance facilities projects could swamp this small program and are eligible for funding elsewhere, while transit operations are harder to fund.
Amendment #148 (Johnson (GA)): This amendment makes expanding transit service hours and/or days an eligible expense for the Reducing Transit Deserts grant program. The underlying program only focuses on improving frequencies, but extending service hours is just as important for reaching more riders who need transit the most.

Transportation for America also strongly opposes two amendments and urges all reps to vote against these short-sighted proposals:

Amendment #144 (Perry (PA)): This amendment prohibits the use of funds to expand the Amtrak passenger rail network. At a time when communities across the country are clamoring for more connections and more options of all kinds—especially in places not well connected to airports or other interstates—this amendment is especially out of touch with the needs of Americans, both urban and rural alike.
Amendment #247 (Gibbs (OH)): This amendment allows state DOTs—such as the Ohio DOT in Rep. Gibbs’ home state, which spends next to nothing on transit service statewide—to seize transit funding and spend that money on highways, overriding local control and eliminating funds from documented local multimodal needs. It also prohibits using transit funds for art, non-functional landscaping, and sculptures—or for paying the cost of including an artist on the design team. This might seem pennywise but it’s incredibly pound foolish. Allowing a small amount of transit funding to support artists’ involvement leads to projects that are more responsive to their surrounding communities’ needs, better incorporate the desires of riders, and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Additionally, these funds support local artists’ small businesses, further benefiting the communities adjacent to transit projects.

Full table of amendments

Amendment Number	Sponsor(s)	Description	Theme	Our Position	Vote Format	Outcome
1	Langevin (RI), Titus (NV)	Requires the Department of Justice, in addition to the Secretary, to adopt the U.S. Access Board's Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines as enforceable standards. This will strongly influence the built environment to be designed and built to be more accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities.	Equity / Accessibility	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
3	Espaillat (NY), Nadler (NY), DeSaulnier (CA)	Allows local transportation agencies, in addition to MPOs, to be direct aid recipients of Metropolitan Performance Program funding. This allows direct, local and regional deployment of federal funds towards transportation needs.	Local Control	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
10	Norcross (NJ)	Requires all Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) projects funded directly through the Federal Government to be performed by qualified electricians with Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certification.	Electric Vehicles	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
15	Moulton (MA), Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Costa (CA), DelBene (WA), Strickland (WA), Espaillat (NY), Morelle (NY), Blumenauer (OR), Maloney, Carolyn (NY), Cleaver (MO), Titus (NV)	Increases the Passenger Rail Improvement, Modernization, and Enhancement (PRIME) program funding by $5 billion over the life of the bill, helping to modernize and develop passenger rail service (especially critical and affordable interstate travel options) while also expanding existing rail corridors.	Passenger Rail	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
18	Velázquez (NY)	Revises the Climate Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Study to guarantee that residents of public housing and of other HUD-designated affordable housing programs are considered and benefit from resilient infrastructure investments. Further revises the study to consider the needs of and create opportunities for individuals registered with a one-stop career center in the climate resilient workforce.	Equity / Resiliency	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
28	Ocasio-Cortez (NY)	Revises SEC. 1309(g) of the Active Connected Transportation grant program to direct the Secretary of Transportation to consider the extent to which a project would serve low income residents of economically disadvantaged communities when making grants.	Equity / Active Transportation	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
30	Nehls (TX)	Strikes Division D of the bill (rail title). This would in essense, defund all rail infrastructure investment.	Passenger Rail	Oppose	Standalone	Not offered
33	Auchincloss (MA), Huffman (CA), Moulton (MA)	Provides municipalities with the ability to create and expand new mobility options, including on-demand public transportation projects.	Local Control	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
46	Perry (PA)	Strikes section 1303, which establishes a clean corridors program to provide formula funding for EV charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. This would in essence, would keep us running a status quo on transportation energy sources that focuses exclusively on fossil fuels.	Electric Vehicles	Oppose	En Bloc 3	Failed
55	Titus (NV), Moulton (MA)	Amends the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program to add rail carriers engaged in high-speed rail activities under the eligible entities for credit risk premium subsidy payments. Much like buying a home with little money down, there is a mortgage insurance premium paid; this amendment helps to provide financing to offset that insurance cost to finance passenger rail infrastructure projects.	Passenger Rail	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
84	Levin, Andy (MI), Ocasio-Cortez (NY)	Amends eligible project considerations under Sec. 1303 Clean Corridors Program to include considerations for promoting efficient dwell times and amends Sec. 1303 Clean Corridors Program to include requirements for the provision of information on charging station placement through mapping applications. In essence, this amendment looks to ensure that charger turnover needs are considered in the design and placement, while also publicizing location information through consumer mapping tools.	Electric Vehicles	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
86	Garcia, Jesús (IL)	This amendment ensures that the street design manual used by all traffic engineers (the MUTCD) equitably accounts for all transportation users, especially cyclists and pedestrians. It furthermore directs the Secretary to update guidance on updating the MUTCD, targeting a four-year update cycle to ensure it stays current with evolving transportation needs.	Safety / Equity / Standards	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
87	Castor (FL)	Expands the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program to allow funding to be used to offset the incremental cost of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, related zero-emission operations equipment, battery electric charging or fuel cell electric refueling infrastructure, and related infrastructure investments.	Electric Vehicles	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
103	Torres, Norma (CA)	Raises authorization level of the Transportation Equity Research Program to $8,000,000 and gives DOT flexibility to conduct research. This will fund needed research to better understand and develop best practices on incorporating equity and inclusion into the transportation program.	Equity	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
113	Torres, Ritchie (NY), Williams (GA), Omar (MN), Escobar (TX), Peters (CA)	Clarifies that projects to deck over a limited-access highway are eligible for funding under the Reconnecting Neighborhoods Program, a program focused on remediating economically-disadvantaged and historically excluded communities and emphasizes projects that provide for inclusive economic development.	Equity / Connectivity	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
118	Crow (CO), Torres, Ritchie (NY), Moore (WI)	Ensures historically excluded communities are considered in the expansion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure deployment.	Equity / Electric Vehicles	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
133	Johnson, Hank (GA)	This amendment increases the eligible funding for transit operating expenses from the Carbon Pollution Reduction Program up to 20 percent, allowing states to use these funds to make transit service more frequent and reliable—which has a notable impact on carbon reduction.	Public Transit	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
139	Johnson, Hank (GA)	This amendment prioritizes transit operations expenses in the Reducing Transit Deserts grant program by removing construction of maintenance facilities as an eligible expense. Maintenance facilities projects could swamp this small program and are eligible for funding elsewhere, while transit operations are harder to fund.	Public Transit	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
144	Perry (PA)	This amendment prohibits the use of funds to expand the Amtrak passenger rail network. At a time when communities across the country are clamoring for more connections and more options of all kinds—especially in places not well connected to airports or other interstates—this amendment is especially out of touch with the needs of Americans, both urban and rural alike.	Passenger Rail	Oppose	En Bloc 3	Failed
148	Johnson, Hank (GA)	This amendment makes expanding transit service hours and/or days an eligible expense for the Reducing Transit Deserts grant program. The underlying program only focuses on improving frequencies, but extending service hours is just as important for reaching more riders who need transit the most.	Public Transit	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
151	Perry (PA)	This amendment would strike the FTA Capital Investment Grant Program, which is used to provide funding for fixed guideway investments such as new and expanded rapid rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, bus rapid transit, and ferries, as well as corridor-based bus rapid transit investments that emulate the features of rail. This would starve public transit system of much needed capital funding to replace their assets and expand their transit network.	Passenger Rail	Oppose	En Bloc 3	Failed
157	Moore (WI)	Increases the percent set-aside for Low and Moderate Community Grant program within the Zero Emission Bus Grant Program from 10 percent to 15 percent. This will help communities tight on resources to be able to afford to purchase zero emission buses and charging infrastructure with additional federal support.	Equity / Electric Vehicles	Support	En Bloc 1	PASSED
166	Rush (IL), Dingell (MI), Clarke, Yvette (NY), Tonko (NY), Adams (NC)	Promotes the domestic manufacture and use of advanced, fuel-efficient vehicles and zero-emission vehicles, and encourages electrification of the transportation sector. This will help promote electric vehicle technology as an augmentation of the existing vehicle experience (and getting people to touch, feel, and experience electric vehicles), while bolstering a growing domestic manufacturing industry.	Electric Vehicles	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
226	Crawford (AR), Cheney (WY), Graves, Garret (LA), Rouzer (NC)	Strikes Section 1201's requirements that states prioritize state of good repair needs over constructing new highway capacity. Outright bad policy to keep on building new roads while the existing roads continue to fall apart. Talk about a huge safety risk and a hit on our wallet with congestion and accelerated vehicle damage. A new road in a sea of crumbling infrastructure, it won't get you far.	Maintenance	Oppose	En Bloc 3	Failed
237	Jackson Lee (TX), Espaillat (NY)	Provides local governments more control over where the funds for the new "Safe Streets" program are spent, by requiring state Departments of Transportation to consult with the local governments before carrying out these complete streets’ projects. The “Safe Streets” program uses sets aside safety funds to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on public roads, with a focus on vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, bicyclists, scooters users, and motorcyclist. Very often, funding is steered by State DOTs without recognizing or consulting the on-the-ground local experience. This amendment looks to get local governments at the table as to where this funding is spent towards complete streets.	Local Control / Safety	Support	En Bloc 4	PASSED
247	Gibbs (OH)	This amendment allows state DOTs—such as the Ohio DOT in Rep. Gibbs’ home state, which spends next to nothing on transit service statewide—to seize transit funding and spend that money on highways, overriding local control and eliminating funds from documented local multimodal needs. It also prohibits using transit funds for art, non-functional landscaping, and sculptures—or for paying the cost of including an artist on the design team. This might seem pennywise but it’s incredibly pound foolish. Allowing a small amount of transit funding to support artists' involvement leads to projects that are more responsive to their surrounding communities' needs, better incorporate the desires of riders, and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Additionally, these funds support local artists' small businesses, further benefiting the communities adjacent to transit projects.	Placemaking / Local Control	Oppose	En Bloc 3	Failed
251	Brady (TX)	Revises the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program to add new conditions of assistance for loans and loan guarantees issued through the program. This only will add burdensome hurdles and complicate a critical program aimed to help finance rail infrastructure.	Passenger Rail	Oppose	En Bloc 3	Failed
261	Tiffany, Thomas (WI)	Stipulates that no funds made available from the Highway Trust Fund may be expended for any purpose other than road and bridge construction. This short-sighted amendment would starve off funding from a significant portion of our transportation system, including our rail network, public transportation, active transportation infrastructure. Additionally, this amendment would starve off funding from critical research and education programs that advance transportation efficiency and safety.	Maintenance / Public Transit / Equity	Oppose	En Bloc 3	Failed

Amendments to the House transportation bill we’re tracking

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

Ten amendments worth watching closely during today’s House markup

The House is beginning markup of their transportation reauthorization proposal right now (10 a.m. EDT) and we have the lowdown on eleven amendments worth keeping your eyes on out of the more than 160 that were filed.

Update 10/22 3:30 p.m.: The markup concluded after 3 p.m. on Thursday. Details are in the table below.

Our list begins with this amendment from Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Dina Titus (D-NV), which would do three basic things:

Provide more flexible funds overall. The amendment increases the amount of funding in the federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) overall, which are the most flexible transportation dollars that can be invested in almost any type of local project, whether a project to improve a road, increase the reach of transit, or make a street safer for biking and walking.
Send more money directly to local communities. The amendment increases the share of flexible STP funding that goes directly to local governments.
Help smaller communities too. It also ensures that the smaller regions with less than 200,000 people that don’t directly control STP funding have more certainty over how the funds reserved for their areas will be spent. This is accomplished by requiring the state to only fund the projects that local communities actively apply for. A new reporting process would make clear to the public which projects applied for funding and how the state prioritized and selected them.

Our full explainer on the amendment is here.

The time is short to get supportive votes for this amendment this morning, so send a message to your representative, especially if yours sits on the T&I Committee in the House. Even without a representative on the committee, you can still send a message to yours and urge them to call their colleagues this morning. We’re working hard to get enough votes for this bill and we need every bit of help possible.

SEND A MESSAGE

Amendment tracker

~~We’ll be tracking the outcomes on these amendments in realtime during the markup in the table below (refresh the page), and follow us on Twitter along the way.~~ @T4America The markup is over and the details are in the table below. Below the table is a short summary of each amendment.

Amendment	Offered by	Outcome?
Local control & transparency	Reps. Davis & TItus	Offered and withdrawn
Safe streets language	Reps. Curbelo and Titus	Included in approved manager's package; not modified.
Transit-oriented development in TIFIA	Rep. Donna Edwards	Withdrawn, opposed by Chairman Shuster
Job connections	Reps. Sires and Costello	Included in approved manager's package; the "shall" changed to "may".
Gas tax indexing	Rep. Barletta	Offered and withdrawn
Project selection transparency and performance	Reps. Bustos and Crawford	Not addressed during markup
Preserving transit and highway equity	Reps. Nadler and Lipinski	Offered and withdrawn. Assurances from Reps. Shuster and Defazio that they will address.
Eliminating public transportation	Rep. Sanford	Not addressed during markup
FUTURE Trip Act (Research)	Rep. Lipinski	Offered and withdrawn
Improving national freight program	Reps. Lipinski, Nadler, Brown & Sires	Offered and withdrawn
Local hire	Rep. Napolitano	Offered and withdrawn

The amendments

1) Transparency and local control – Reps. Davis and Titus

Covered above.

2) Safe Streets – Reps. Curbelo and Titus

The House bill already includes some language encouraging states and metropolitan planning organizations to plan and design for the safety needs of all users—regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation—in federally-funded projects. This amendment would improve that language by requiring the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide regular updates on states’ progress and best practices. The majority of pedestrian deaths occur on roads which are subject to federal oversight, but which are too often designed and operated only for speeding traffic—even in areas near homes or schools, and where people of all ages and abilities are out walking. The Safe Streets Amendment would help make sure these roads are planned and designed for the safety of all users.

3) Transit-oriented development in TIFIA – Rep. Donna Edwards

This amendment would expand the eligibility in the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan program to include transit-oriented development (TOD) projects, and lower the minimum project cost down to $10 million to help include smaller projects in this innovative financing program. Demand for living near transit is projected to double over the next 20 years to over 15 million households and to meet this demand, significant new development near transit stations will be needed. This kind of amendment would make TOD projects easier by making them eligible for TIFIA financing.

4) Job connections (The Commute Less Act) – Reps. Sires and Costello

This amendment would expand transportation options for commuters (with a focus on low-income communities) by leveraging the resources of employers and the private sector. Larger metropolitan areas would be required to develop regional goals to reduce vehicle miles traveled during peak commuting hours and improve transportation connections between areas with lots of jobs and areas where low-income households are concentrated. They would be required to identify existing public transportation services and employer-based commuter programs that support better access to jobs and identify proposed projects and programs that could reduce congestion and help connect more people to jobs.

This is modeled after the successful Commuter Trip Reduction program in Washington State, which we profiled indirectly in this case study on a vanpooling program there. T4America endorsed this amendment, and we believe it’s included in the manager’s package of amendments, though it was modified on its inclusion.

5) Gas tax indexing — Rep. Barletta

This amendment would index the gas tax to inflation and establish a congressional task force on the Highway Trust Fund to report out bill language on increases to the gas tax or other funding changes that could be fast-tracked in the House — with mandatory votes required and no amendments possible.

6) Project selection transparency and performance – Reps. Bustos and Crawford

The Metropolitan Planning Enhancement Act would both rebuild public trust by increasing transparency with how transportation projects are selected and ensure that limited funds are invested efficiently, by prioritizing projects that bring the most value to a state or region. Projects included and described in state or metropolitan transportation plans would be scored against other projects and selected against criteria that supports national and state goals. Most states currently have limited to no criteria, which make it challenging for the public to understand how their funds are being spent or how any additional revenue would improve their daily commute.

This is a start toward removing politics from the project selection process and ensuring that our limited resources are invested in projects that provide the highest return on investment. T4America endorsed this amendment.

7) Preserving transit and highway equity – Reps. Nadler and Lipinski

The House’s draft reauthorization included a dangerous provision that would lower the share that the federal government pays on new transit projects from 80 percent down to 50 percent. The federal match for highway projects would remain at 80 percent. While the federal government usually ends up only paying 50 percent of the costs for most transit projects because of the long line of projects applying for these limited transit funds in any given year, it’s important that we keep the playing field level and equitable between highway and transit projects. And with more general taxpayer funds being transferred to keep the trust fund afloat over the life of this bill, it’s even more important to keep the matches equitable. This amendment would eliminate that provision and preserve the 80 percent match.

8) Eliminating public transportation – Rep. Sanford

This amendment would cut the entire transit title (Title 49 chapter 53) from the bill, essentially eliminating all public transportation funding and policy from the House’s proposal. This amendment is a non-starter.

9) FUTURE Trip Act (Research) – Rep. Lipinski

This amendment would “support innovative technologies” and research into things like the deployment of technologies for connected and autonomous vehicles, among many other projects to improve research and data collection. Read the full summary of the amendment’s provisions here.

10) National Freight and Highway Projects – Reps. Lipinski, Nadler, Brown & Sires

There’s a freight program in the House bill, but it places arbitrary caps on how much money can be spent on any mode of freight transport, instead of letting states or metro areas decide themselves how to most efficiently invest their freight dollars to keep things moving. This amendment would remove the arbitrary cap on the amount of funding that can be spent on multimodal freight projects.

11) Local hire – Rep. Napolitano

Enables local hiring preferences to be considered during the procurement process on transit projects as long as one local jurisdiction within the entire region has per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average or an unemployment rate that is 1 percent greater than the national average.

Senate MAP-21 transportation bill amendment tracker

UPDATED 3/14/12 2:00 p.m. The Senate has approved MAP-21 by a strong bipartisan vote of 74-22. All of the amendments below have been voted on, incorporated into the bill through a manager’s amendment, or withdrawn by their sponsors. Read our full statement on the Senate bill.

Last week the Senate struck a deal to begin debating the bipartisan MAP-21 transportation bill and vote on 30 amendments that leadership of both parties agreed to consider. We are tracking the votes on the amendments with these tables below, where you can also find summaries of each amendment. Note: If you bookmarked last Thursday’s post with the amendment table, no worries — the same tables are embedded in that post as here, so they’ll update in both places at the same time. We just wanted to push out a new, simpler post today.

The Senate does have a vote scheduled for the full bill after the amendments but due to how the Senate operates with time limits and votes, they may not have time to consider the full bill today. Check back throughout the day for updates, and follow us on Twitter for updates in real time.

Final transportation-related MAP-21 amendments

Senator and #	Description	Outcome or Notes
Cardin-Cochran 1549	Local Access and Control This provides local communities and metropolitan regions with access to the "Additional Activities" pot of funding through a competitive grant program — funding that they can use for main street revitalizations, boulevard conversions, new bike facilities, or safety improvements to make streets safer for everyone. Large metro areas will receive some funds directly. Read our explainer on the amendment here	Adopted into Senate manager's amendment package on 3/1/12. Amendment text (pdf)
Franken-Blunt 1543	Bridge Repair This would help provide adequate funding and flexibility to states to repair and rehabilitate the 180,000 federal-aid bridges that are not on the National Highway System (NHS). These bridges would become eligible for a 40% share of the main highway program funds (National Highway Performance Program) that aren't currently required for repairing the National Highway System.	Adopted into Senate manager's amendment package on 3/1/12. One-pager on federal-aid bridges (pdf) Amendment text (pdf)
Landrieu 1630	Protecting MPOs from State Penalties This ensures that metropolitan areas (MPOs) aren't left on the hook for financial penalties if states do not meet their state requirements for fixing roads and bridges or develop a state highway safety plan.	Adopted into Senate manager's amendment package on 3/1/12. Amendment text (pdf)
Blunt-Casey 1540	Repairing Non-Federal-aid Bridges This would require states to dedicate a specific percentage of their highway funds to repairing bridges that are not on the National Highway System and also not located on a Federal-aid highway.	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
DeMint 1756	Turning federal program over to states This would transfer most responsibility for surface transportation to states and remove many regulatory requirements. The Federal government would continue to fund Interstate maintenance, transportation research, and safety. Finally, this amendment would end all dedicated funding for transit programs.	The amendment failed, by a count of 30-67.
Bingaman 1759	Privatized highways This would reduce the amount of Federal highway money states receive each year to account for roads that have been privatized, The majority of Federal highway dollars are sent to states based on the total number of lane miles, this ensures that states don't get federal money based on including lane-miles that they're not actually responsible for maintaining.	The amendment passed by a count of 50-47.
Coats 1517	State spending caps Under this amendment, states would get back only what they put into the Highway Trust Fund in a given fiscal year, defeating the ability of a federal program to shift revenues based on important regional or national purposes.	The amendment failed, by a count of 28-70.
Brown (OH) 1819	Buy America This would apply "Buy American" requirements to all highway and transit projects. This would ensure that a higher percentage of manufactured goods and commodities (e.g. steel, concrete, etc.) are produced within the United States.	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Merkley 1653	Farm vehicle exemptions This would exempt certain farm vehicles, including the individual operating that vehicle, from certain requirements, including commercial drivers' licenses, drug testing, and certifications	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Portman 1736	Gas tax flexibility States would keep their gas taxes and be able to essentially "opt-out" of the federal surface transportation program entirely. Transportation projects developed by states that "opt-out" would not be subject to any Federal highway, transit, and related environmental regulations.	The amendment failed, by a count of 30-68.
Klobuchar 1617	Ag transportation This amendment would exempt drivers from maximum driving and on-duty regulations for drivers of agricultural farm supplies and agricultural products during planting and harvesting periods.	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Corker 1785	Discretionary spending cap adjustment This amendment would cut discretionary spending by $20 billion on top of the cuts Congress already has agreed to.	The amendment failed, by a count of 40-58.
Shaheen 1678	Small bus systems Public transportation providers that operate between 50 and 75 buses would be allowed the flexibility to use a portion of their federal funds to cover the cost of operations. Systems operating fewer than 50 buses would be permitted to use a larger share of their federal funds to cover the cost of operations.	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
Portman 1742	Rest areas This amendment would allow states to permit any non-highway use in any rest area along any highway, including any commercial activity that does not impair the highway or interfere with the full use and safety of the highway.	The amendment failed, by a count of 12-86.
Corker 1810	Limitation on expenditures Beginning in 2005, Congress authorized spending more money each year from the Highway Trust Fund than it took in, resulting in declining balances. This amendment would eliminate this practice and ensure that expenditures from the Fund were equal to amounts deposited for a given fiscal year.	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
Carper 1670	Tolling This amendment would expand the ability of states to apply for authority to toll certain Federal-aid highways, with proceeds available for investments in the corridor, helping to create alternatives in that tolled corridor.	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
Hutchison 1568	Tolls This would reduce the ability of states to apply to USDOT for authority to toll certain Federal-aid highways	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
McCain 1669	Grand Canyon – noise abatement This would exempt certain commercial air tour aircraft from noise restrictions, air traffic control restrictions (minimum altitude requirements) and environmental restrictions. In addition, it would set a 15 year deadline for conversion of air tour aircrafts operating in the Grand Canyon National Park to certain quiet technologies.	This amendment was superseded by provisions in the manager's package and withdrawn by the sponsor.
Alexander 1779	Over-flights of national parks	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Boxer 1816	Emergency exemptions This "Sense of the Senate" resolution urges agencies to take advantage of procedures in current law to move expeditiously when rebuilding after a disaster.	The amendment passed by a 76-20 count.
Paul 1556	Emergency exemptions for projects When rebuilding any project closed due to safety reasons, this would exempt those projects from environmental reviews, approvals, licensing and permit requirements for rebuilding a project that was closed due to safety reasons.	The amendment failed, by a count of 42-54.

Final amendments totally unrelated to transportation

Senator and #	Description	Status and notes
Vitter 1535	Outer Continental Shelf Allows the proposed 2010-2015 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program to bypass the environmental review process required by NEPA – thereby approving it.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 46-52.
Baucus	Regarding rural schools	Passed with more than the required 60 votes by 82-16.
Collins 1660	Boiler MACT This amendment nullifies existing protections against mercury and toxic air pollution from incinerators and industrial boilers, then delays compliance with any new standards by a minimum of 3.5 years. This reduces EPA's current environmental quality standards for industrial boilers and eliminates national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for major sources, area sources, and industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 52-46.
Coburn 1738	OMB/Duplicative Programs This would cut the discretionary funding caps by another $10 billion from the recently agreed upon level in the Budget Control Act (BCA).	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 52-46.
Nelson FL-Shelby-Landrieu 1822	RESTORE (the Gulf) This would address a key recommendation of the President’s National Oil Spill Commission to direct 80% of Clean Water Act penalties collected as a result of the BP Gulf oil disaster towards restoration of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.	Passed with more than the required 60 votes by 76-22.
Wyden 1817	Keystone pipeline This prohibits oil exported through the Keystone XL pipeline to be sold internationally.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 34-64.
Hoeven 1537	Keystone pipeline This would have Congress approve the already-rejected Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline without necessary environmental review or a process to determine if the project is in the national interest.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 56-42.
Levin 1818	Offshore Tax Havens Adds special measures for jurisdictions, financial institutions, or international transactions that are of primary money laundering concern or significantly impede United States tax enforcement.	Passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Roberts 1826	Energy Tax Extenders This bill is offered as a side-by-side to Stabenow's 1812 but also including approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 41-57.
Stabenow 1812	Energy Tax Extenders This includes provisions to extend critical incentives that support renewable energy and energy efficiency. It extends the renewable energy production tax credit, the 48C manufacturing tax credit, the 1603 Treasury Program, the efficient existing and new homes tax credit and the efficient appliances tax credit, allows for the inclusion of algae in biofuel incentives and expands the 48C investment tax credit to offshore wind.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 49-49.
DeMint 1589	Repeal of energy tax subsidies This would repeal incentives for clean energy, including the renewable energy production and investment tax credits, and the cellulosic biofuel tax credit, as well as subsidies for traditional fossil fuel industries.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 26-72.
Menendez-Burr 1782	Alternative vehicles (natural gas) This would promote the purchase and use of natural gas vehicles with an emphasis on heavy-duty and fleet vehicles.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 51-47.

Senate reaches agreement on amendments, will begin debating transportation bill today

Just one day after a procedural vote failed, the Senate late last Wednesday reached an agreement that will allow them to begin debating the MAP-21 transportation bill and start voting on amendments today.

The hangup on moving the bill forward was disagreement on which amendments would be voted on — there were over 200 amendments filed, many of which didn’t have anything to do with transportation, and there was no way that all of them would be considered. A handful of them were included in a manager’s package that essentially folds them into the overall bill, including the Cardin-Cochran amendment and several others that T4 America is supporting.

A total of 30 amendments will be considered by the Senate, with no possible way for others to be offered or debated, per the agreement.

The real point of contention and the reason the cloture vote failed on Tuesday was the fact that many Senators wanted to debate and vote on potentially contentious amendments that have little or nothing to do with transportation, like opening up the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling, or approving the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline — both of which are included in the 30 amendments that will be considered starting today.

Along those lines, there are 18 amendments having to do with transportation policy in some way, and 12 that have nothing to do with transportation, known as “non-germane” amendments. Tables of both of those are below, and we’ll be filling in the summaries throughout the day as we read and decipher them.

The Senate made it through 7 amendments last Thursday, leaving about 23 for today, and a possible final vote on the Senate floor as early as tonight. But when or if they do pass MAP-21, per the agreement, they are not going to move it immediately to the House, giving the larger chamber another chance to pass a bill of their own. (The House is on recess this week.)

You can track the amendments with the tables below.

Last updated: 3/13/12 12:30 p.m ET — Summaries added for each amendment and vote totals will be added as they happen.

Final transportation-related MAP-21 amendments

Senator and #	Description	Outcome or Notes
Cardin-Cochran 1549	Local Access and Control This provides local communities and metropolitan regions with access to the "Additional Activities" pot of funding through a competitive grant program — funding that they can use for main street revitalizations, boulevard conversions, new bike facilities, or safety improvements to make streets safer for everyone. Large metro areas will receive some funds directly. Read our explainer on the amendment here	Adopted into Senate manager's amendment package on 3/1/12. Amendment text (pdf)
Franken-Blunt 1543	Bridge Repair This would help provide adequate funding and flexibility to states to repair and rehabilitate the 180,000 federal-aid bridges that are not on the National Highway System (NHS). These bridges would become eligible for a 40% share of the main highway program funds (National Highway Performance Program) that aren't currently required for repairing the National Highway System.	Adopted into Senate manager's amendment package on 3/1/12. One-pager on federal-aid bridges (pdf) Amendment text (pdf)
Landrieu 1630	Protecting MPOs from State Penalties This ensures that metropolitan areas (MPOs) aren't left on the hook for financial penalties if states do not meet their state requirements for fixing roads and bridges or develop a state highway safety plan.	Adopted into Senate manager's amendment package on 3/1/12. Amendment text (pdf)
Blunt-Casey 1540	Repairing Non-Federal-aid Bridges This would require states to dedicate a specific percentage of their highway funds to repairing bridges that are not on the National Highway System and also not located on a Federal-aid highway.	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
DeMint 1756	Turning federal program over to states This would transfer most responsibility for surface transportation to states and remove many regulatory requirements. The Federal government would continue to fund Interstate maintenance, transportation research, and safety. Finally, this amendment would end all dedicated funding for transit programs.	The amendment failed, by a count of 30-67.
Bingaman 1759	Privatized highways This would reduce the amount of Federal highway money states receive each year to account for roads that have been privatized, The majority of Federal highway dollars are sent to states based on the total number of lane miles, this ensures that states don't get federal money based on including lane-miles that they're not actually responsible for maintaining.	The amendment passed by a count of 50-47.
Coats 1517	State spending caps Under this amendment, states would get back only what they put into the Highway Trust Fund in a given fiscal year, defeating the ability of a federal program to shift revenues based on important regional or national purposes.	The amendment failed, by a count of 28-70.
Brown (OH) 1819	Buy America This would apply "Buy American" requirements to all highway and transit projects. This would ensure that a higher percentage of manufactured goods and commodities (e.g. steel, concrete, etc.) are produced within the United States.	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Merkley 1653	Farm vehicle exemptions This would exempt certain farm vehicles, including the individual operating that vehicle, from certain requirements, including commercial drivers' licenses, drug testing, and certifications	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Portman 1736	Gas tax flexibility States would keep their gas taxes and be able to essentially "opt-out" of the federal surface transportation program entirely. Transportation projects developed by states that "opt-out" would not be subject to any Federal highway, transit, and related environmental regulations.	The amendment failed, by a count of 30-68.
Klobuchar 1617	Ag transportation This amendment would exempt drivers from maximum driving and on-duty regulations for drivers of agricultural farm supplies and agricultural products during planting and harvesting periods.	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Corker 1785	Discretionary spending cap adjustment This amendment would cut discretionary spending by $20 billion on top of the cuts Congress already has agreed to.	The amendment failed, by a count of 40-58.
Shaheen 1678	Small bus systems Public transportation providers that operate between 50 and 75 buses would be allowed the flexibility to use a portion of their federal funds to cover the cost of operations. Systems operating fewer than 50 buses would be permitted to use a larger share of their federal funds to cover the cost of operations.	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
Portman 1742	Rest areas This amendment would allow states to permit any non-highway use in any rest area along any highway, including any commercial activity that does not impair the highway or interfere with the full use and safety of the highway.	The amendment failed, by a count of 12-86.
Corker 1810	Limitation on expenditures Beginning in 2005, Congress authorized spending more money each year from the Highway Trust Fund than it took in, resulting in declining balances. This amendment would eliminate this practice and ensure that expenditures from the Fund were equal to amounts deposited for a given fiscal year.	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
Carper 1670	Tolling This amendment would expand the ability of states to apply for authority to toll certain Federal-aid highways, with proceeds available for investments in the corridor, helping to create alternatives in that tolled corridor.	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
Hutchison 1568	Tolls This would reduce the ability of states to apply to USDOT for authority to toll certain Federal-aid highways	This amendment was withdrawn by the sponsor.
McCain 1669	Grand Canyon – noise abatement This would exempt certain commercial air tour aircraft from noise restrictions, air traffic control restrictions (minimum altitude requirements) and environmental restrictions. In addition, it would set a 15 year deadline for conversion of air tour aircrafts operating in the Grand Canyon National Park to certain quiet technologies.	This amendment was superseded by provisions in the manager's package and withdrawn by the sponsor.
Alexander 1779	Over-flights of national parks	The amendment passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Boxer 1816	Emergency exemptions This "Sense of the Senate" resolution urges agencies to take advantage of procedures in current law to move expeditiously when rebuilding after a disaster.	The amendment passed by a 76-20 count.
Paul 1556	Emergency exemptions for projects When rebuilding any project closed due to safety reasons, this would exempt those projects from environmental reviews, approvals, licensing and permit requirements for rebuilding a project that was closed due to safety reasons.	The amendment failed, by a count of 42-54.

Final amendments totally unrelated to transportation

Senator and #	Description	Status and notes
Vitter 1535	Outer Continental Shelf Allows the proposed 2010-2015 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program to bypass the environmental review process required by NEPA – thereby approving it.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 46-52.
Baucus	Regarding rural schools	Passed with more than the required 60 votes by 82-16.
Collins 1660	Boiler MACT This amendment nullifies existing protections against mercury and toxic air pollution from incinerators and industrial boilers, then delays compliance with any new standards by a minimum of 3.5 years. This reduces EPA's current environmental quality standards for industrial boilers and eliminates national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for major sources, area sources, and industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 52-46.
Coburn 1738	OMB/Duplicative Programs This would cut the discretionary funding caps by another $10 billion from the recently agreed upon level in the Budget Control Act (BCA).	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 52-46.
Nelson FL-Shelby-Landrieu 1822	RESTORE (the Gulf) This would address a key recommendation of the President’s National Oil Spill Commission to direct 80% of Clean Water Act penalties collected as a result of the BP Gulf oil disaster towards restoration of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.	Passed with more than the required 60 votes by 76-22.
Wyden 1817	Keystone pipeline This prohibits oil exported through the Keystone XL pipeline to be sold internationally.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 34-64.
Hoeven 1537	Keystone pipeline This would have Congress approve the already-rejected Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline without necessary environmental review or a process to determine if the project is in the national interest.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 56-42.
Levin 1818	Offshore Tax Havens Adds special measures for jurisdictions, financial institutions, or international transactions that are of primary money laundering concern or significantly impede United States tax enforcement.	Passed by an unrecorded voice vote.
Roberts 1826	Energy Tax Extenders This bill is offered as a side-by-side to Stabenow's 1812 but also including approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 41-57.
Stabenow 1812	Energy Tax Extenders This includes provisions to extend critical incentives that support renewable energy and energy efficiency. It extends the renewable energy production tax credit, the 48C manufacturing tax credit, the 1603 Treasury Program, the efficient existing and new homes tax credit and the efficient appliances tax credit, allows for the inclusion of algae in biofuel incentives and expands the 48C investment tax credit to offshore wind.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 49-49.
DeMint 1589	Repeal of energy tax subsidies This would repeal incentives for clean energy, including the renewable energy production and investment tax credits, and the cellulosic biofuel tax credit, as well as subsidies for traditional fossil fuel industries.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 26-72.
Menendez-Burr 1782	Alternative vehicles (natural gas) This would promote the purchase and use of natural gas vehicles with an emphasis on heavy-duty and fleet vehicles.	Failed to reach the required 60 votes, falling 51-47.