Elana Schor
Recent Posts
Little-Known Provision in Senate Jobs Bill Could Spark House Resistance
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The Senate passed its jobs bill today by a 70-28 vote, bringing Congress one step closer to a $20 billion transfer that would keep the nation’s highway trust fund solvent until 2011 and extend the 2005 federal transportation law. House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) (Photo: Capitol Chatter) The bill’s future in the House […]
Obama Adviser: If EPA is Blocked on Emissions, Forget About CAFE Deal
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lisa Jackson extended an olive branch this week to lawmakers who are pushing to block her from regulating carbon emissions in the absence of a congressional climate bill, but Jackson’s promise to delay action until next year appears to have made no headway with Republicans and coal-state Democrats. Carol Browner, […]
House Lawmakers Hail Transportation Stimulus — But Add Three Caveats
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At a House transportation committee hearing today that marked the one-year anniversary of the Obama administration’s economic recovery efforts, lawmakers offered praise for the stimulus law’s impact on local infrastructure investments even as they hit upon three key areas of concern with its implementation. The Port of Los Angeles was shut out of the stimulus’ […]
U.S. DOT Offers Sample Distracted Driving Bill — With a Potential Loophole
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The Obama administration today offered a one-page sample proposal to crack down on texting behind the wheel, aimed at helping guide states through the process of crafting their own distracted driving legislation. (Photo: brainlink.org) The sample bill text [PDF] was prepared by the U.S. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which invited road safety groups […]
The Upside of GOP ‘Hypocrisy’ on Transportation Stimulus Grants
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To call Rep. Pete Sessions (TX), chairman of the House Republican campaign committee, a critic of the Obama administration’s stimulus law would be putting it mildly. Sessions marked the one-year anniversary of the law’s passage last week by labeling the stimulus a "massive spending binge" that only "allegedly" created jobs in his district. Is his […]
New Analysis: Major Cities Still Shortchanged by Transportation Stimulus
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The Obama administration’s awarding of $1.5 billion in competitive transportation stimulus grants on Wednesday sparked elation in cities such as Kansas City and New Orleans. But those celebrations were more than just anecdotal evidence of the so-called TIGER program‘s urban impact, according to a new analysis from the Brookings Institution’s Rob Puentes. (Chart: The Avenue) […]
17 Democrats Urge Reid: Don’t Forget Infrastructure in Your Jobs Push
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to call up a job creation bill on Monday that includes a stopgap rescue of the highway trust fund but none of the new infrastructure spending okayed by the House. Even that pared-down measure faces a GOP filibuster threat, but many Democrats remain undaunted in their push for […]
A Day After Their TIGER Win, Freight Railroads Carve Out More Turf
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The freight rail industry yesterday claimed the top three awards in the Obama administration’s competition for $1.5 billion in TIGER stimulus grants, with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood singling out train shippers for an online shout-out: (Chart: AAR) You know, although passengers and commuters have human faces, we need to remember that trade depends upon the […]
Road and Transit Groups Join Boxer to Push for Senate Jobs Bill
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Representatives from Washington’s road and transit lobbies joined Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today to call for swift passage of job-creation legislation that is slated for a vote in the upper chamber of Congress on Monday. Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) (Photo: AP) Faced with the prospects of a GOP filibuster, […]
Who Lost Out in the Bid for a Piece of TIGER Transportation Stimulus?
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With more than $56 billion in applications submitted for just $1.5 billion in available funding, the Obama administration’s TIGER grants — short for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery — was one of the stimulus law’s most hotly contested programs. So it’s no surprise that the process resulted in its share of losers as well as […]
Freight Rail, Streetcars Are Tops in Stimulus’ TIGER Chase
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The Obama administration today announced the winners of $1.5 billion stimulus in highly competitive stimulus grants under the program known as Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER. Southeastern and midwestern freight rail projects were the day’s biggest winners, with urban streetcar projects also making a big splash. Freight rail in Chicago, where the CREATE […]
Study: Even in Car-Centric Atlanta, Transport Reform is Health Reform
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The connection between transportation reform — an emphasis on land use that makes biking and walking as viable as auto travel for routine trips — and health reform is one that’s not often made, despite the best efforts of the Obama administration. Even in traffic-choked Atlanta, denser residential neighborhoods had positive health effects. (Photo: MSNBC) […]