Tag: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: Page 2

Roadbuilding

House could consider bill to bring back 330 NHTSA employees

The House may consider a bill next week that would bring back about 330 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) employees who were furloughed last week when the federal government shutdown began. The shutdown suspended several operations within the U.S. Department of Transportation, including NHTSA activities involving defect information distribution. Representative Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said […]

October 10, 2013

Roadbuilding

House Transportation Committee approves water infrastructure bill

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved its proposed water infrastructure bill Thursday, The Hill reports. The Water Resources and Reform Development Act (WRRDA), which the committee introduced earlier this month, would reauthorize federal waterways funding for the first time in six years. The bill, formally known as H.R. 3080, is one in which […]

September 20, 2013

Roadbuilding

Eleanor Holmes Norton takes up ranking member role in House subcommittee on Highways and Transit

Congressional leaders announced Thursday that Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has been elected ranking member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, according to a report from The Washington Post. Norton previously served as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. Her new […]

July 26, 2013

Roadbuilding

House to begin rail funding talks

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing next week, when the committee will begin considering a new Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA), according to The Hill. The current PRIIA bill, which was signed into law in 2008 by former President George W. Bush, is set to expire in September. The […]

June 21, 2013

Roadbuilding

Private money: A funding wildcard in 2014

It’s hard to see a time in the foreseeable future where we will have a solid supply of funding from any single source to fill the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). That’s an asterisked statement of course because an increased gas tax could do it. But that won’t happen in the foreseeable future. And neither will […]

June 13, 2013

Roadbuilding

Transportation funding talks remain stagnant

The debate over transportation funding continues as MAP-21’s expiration date—September 2014—inches closer and closer. Congressional discussions about how to increase funding are seemingly going nowhere, Politico reported. While transportation funding, particularly the Highway Trust Fund, continues to decrease, ideas about an increase in the gas tax (which has remained stagnant since its 18.4-cent-per-gallon raise in […]

March 25, 2013

Roadbuilding

Depends what you mean by “relevant” or “earmark.”

When it comes to transportation infrastructure, what is “relevant” and what is an “earmark?” The debate arises courtesy of Minnesota Republican Representative and former Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann. And while the debate comes from a meeting where she spoke, it is not just a one-off story about that meeting or even about Bachmann, it is […]

March 22, 2013

Roadbuilding

America’s roads and bridges ‘not crumbling’ – report

A new report from the Reason Foundation concludes, after  examining 20 years of state highway data, that the condition of America’s state-controlled roads has improved in seven key areas including deficient bridges and pavement condition. “There are still plenty of problems to fix, but our roads and bridges aren’t crumbling,” said David Hartgen, lead author […]

February 21, 2013

Roadbuilding

Uh oh, somebody’s out of touch on the gas tax

If something is unpopular but beneficial to the American public, do you as a member of Congress (a) support it, or (b) check the polls because sometimes what’s good for the country could get a person unelected. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce backs a fuel tax increase because, as President Reagan once said before he […]

February 14, 2013

Roadbuilding

Reauthorization, deficit spending and flying pigs

One less funding option for reauthorization. “Deficit spending is not the answer,”  Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said this week in Harrisburg, PA. It probably never was, but it has been used in the recent past when it wasn’t supposed to be an option either. Those […]

February 13, 2013

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Chez Amtrak.

From the “speaks for itself” department: Over the last 10 years, losses to the taxpayers from Amtrak’s food and beverage service have added up to more than $833 million.   Every $9.50 cheeseburger on Amtrak is subsidized $16.50 by the taxpayers, and every Pepsi sold for $2 costs the taxpayers $3.40. This from hearings at […]

August 7, 2012

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Reauthorization — first glimpses, second guesses

So compromise wins. So it should; that’s what a Senate/House conference committees does. But looking at the first details of the new reauthorization bill, it’s impossible not to feel that this is a compromise that could have happened way sooner. Much of it is simply dumping Senate clauses. Not too much discussion needed here because […]

July 3, 2012