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New Transportation bill is likely dead for now
There’s been a huge flurry of news stories on the next transportation bill during the past couple weeks.
In summary, while Congressman James Oberstar introduced a new transportation bill, the White House announced they wanted to simply extend the existing transportation bill for 18 months. And today Senate leader voiced their support for an extension.
This situation is best summarized by this Infrastructurist article: Transportation Bill Is Dead As A Doornail For 2009 Because Nobody Can Figure Out How To Pay For It
But even the current transportation fund is in the red and may require an additional $20 billion to get through an 18 month extension.
In this economy, no one wants to raise gas taxes. Also, waiting 18 months means the gas tax issue could be dealt with conveniently after the 2010 elections.
What does this mean for cyclists?
We’re good either way. While some of the features in Oberstar’s transportation bill are very welcomed, it’s likely they may also appear in the future transportation bill. That is unless the 2010 elections change the balance of power in Congress.
Tags: Funding