Budget battles leave a cloud over transportation funding as lame duck session looms
Same story, different year. Once again, we’re nearing the beginning of a new (fiscal) year on October 1, and Congress has failed to pass a budget to fund the government for the upcoming year. Even if Congress passes a temporary budget to avert a shutdown —which is looking likely — important transportation programs could still be put on hold on until Congress passes a full budget.
New grant program to support smart development around transit lines is open for business
A program created in the 2012 transportation law to help communities plan for transit-oriented development is open for business — and T4America is ready to help your community win some of that grant funding.
A dozen states have moved to raise transportation dollars, with more to come: Track them here
With Congress continuing to flail on providing stable funding, many states are finding they can’t wait and are moving on their own. But it’s not always as simple anymore as adding pennies to a per-gallon gas tax, so states are taking some creative approaches. You can learn about what 12 states already have done – and the political fall-out from it – with our revamped and refreshed tracker. You’ll also see what’s brewing in still more states.
TIGER grant winners to be announced this week
News on the winners of the sixth round of TIGER, the popular federal grant program for innovative local transportation projects, is leaking out already, with formal release of the full list expected later this week.
Wyoming voters reward elected leaders for raising transportation revenue
In February of 2013, Wyoming’s state legislature decided to stabilize their state’s transportation fund by passing a ten-cent increase to their gas tax. The state is expected to be able to invest an additional $72 million per year in its transportation system as a result. On Tuesday, those elected leaders faced their first primary election since the vote to raise the gas tax.
Congress postpones insolvency, but uncertainty still plagues the Highway Trust Fund’s future
The last-minute patch to the Highway Trust Fund that Congress enacted on the way out the door last week delayed immediate insolvency, but it hardly ends the uncertainty for states or addresses our nation’s long-term prospects.
T4America statement in response to Senate adoption of stopgap to avoid Highway Trust Fund insolvency
The Senate today approved a House-passed measure to transfer $10.8 billion from the general fund to cover the looming shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund until next spring. The stopgap bill, which now heads to President Obama’s desk, comes one day before a deadline to avoid significant funding cuts during the height of construction season. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued this statement in response:
Massachusetts is attempting to lead the way on a performance-based system for selecting transportation projects.
Last year, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed a landmark bill to fund urgently needed statewide transportation investments over the coming years. But how will the state ensure that those dollars go where they’re needed most and can have the greatest impact? Advocates, state officials and other stakeholders in Massachusetts are in the midst of figuring that out.
Senate passes plan to postpone transportation insolvency to the end of the year, sends it to House
Late Tuesday evening, the Senate modified and approved a measure transferring about $8 billion from the general fund to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent until the end of the year. But because two amendments were made, it’ll return to the House for further action before any final deal can be approved on postponing insolvency of the nation’s transportation program. The House will have to act fast: the long August recess is scheduled to begin in just three days.
Senate poised to take up House plan to patch Highway Trust Fund until Spring 2015
Sometime this week the Senate is expected to take up and vote on the House’s bill to postpone the insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund until May of 2015 via an array of accounting maneuvers to cover ten months of transportation funding.
Follow-Up: Maryland pols raise their gas tax, voters respond supportively
While the conventional wisdom is that voting for a tax increase spells doom for a politician, recent evidence from Maryland continues to show that state politicians rarely lose their seats when they vote for a gas tax hike.
Senate, House committees approve short-term rescue of trust fund; long-term solution still needed
The Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees today each passed similar short-term patches to keep the Highway Trust Fund in the black at least through early 2015. If adopted by the full House and Senate, the move to transfer $10.8 billion to the trust fund will avert immediate disaster, but there’s still heavy work needed to find a long-term funding solution.
House proposes a trust fund Band-aid through May, 2015, with key differences from Senate
A House proposal to shore up the transportation trust fund through May, 2015, is a good news, not-so-good news proposition. Late yesterday, House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) proposed a $10.8 billion infusion to cover a looming deficit in the Highway Trust Fund. The money for the next few months would come mostly […]
Representative Dina Titus announces bill promoting greater local control at Las Vegas event
At a press conference yesterday in Las Vegas, Rep. Dina Titus introduced her constituents to her bipartisan bill to give local communities across the country greater access to federal transportation funds.
On C-SPAN, T4A’s Beth Osborne finds agreement with Heritage on HTF, walkability
Our compatriot Beth Osborne engaged in a spirited discussion on gas taxes and the crashing highway trust fund this morning on C-Span’s Washington Journal this morning. Watch the video here.
A broke Highway Trust Fund means job losses equal to Denver’s population, President Obama warns
Speaking today at the Key Bridge in Washington, DC, President Obama called on Congress to save the Highway Trust Fund from its pending insolvency, and to adopt a long-term transportation bill on the scale of his proposed four-year, $302 billion program. [Full text here.] In doing so, he retraced the bipartisan history of transportation funding […]
“They’re gonna need to see this upstairs.”
“They’re gonna need to see this upstairs.” That’s what staff at the U.S. Department of Transportation told Smart Growth America president Geoff Anderson yesterday when he showed up with 1,500 letters from T4America and Smart Growth America supporters urging USDOT to improve their targets for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on our streets and to better hold states accountable for reaching those goals.
Attempts for bipartisanship slow down Senate Finance plan for short-term trust fund fix
The Senate Finance Committee plan to rescue the nation’s transportation fund through the end of the year took a slight detour today as Chairman Wyden (D-OR) made some key changes and deferred debate on potentially contentious amendments in the name of trying to reach bipartisan agreement.
Senate Finance Committee considers a trust fund stopgap, with long-term funding unclear
The Senate Finance Committee Thursday will take up a proposal from Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through Dec. 31 with a $9 billion transfer from the general budget. The needed revenue would be raised by increasing the allowable tax on heavy trucks and four accounting maneuvers unrelated to transportation.
Support the Senate’s bipartisan plan to raise the gas tax
After months of hearing from mayors and business leaders and citizens and people of all stripes who are worried about the looming bankruptcy of our transportation fund, a key Senate committee is taking up a temporary fix to the trust fund. But Congress still must find a long-term solution to save our nation’s transportation fund. Two Senators have offered that solution, and it’s time to support that plan.
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