DC.StreetsBlog.org
by Elana Schor on March 1, 2010
A new month begins today without rules in place to govern federal transportation programs, thanks to an objection by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) to quick approval of a short-term extension of existing law.
The consequences of the delay could include forced furloughs for nearly 2,000 U.S. DOT employees, according to an agency release this morning, as well as a shutdown of federal funding for road, bridge, bike-ped, and transit projects. The processing of money for stimulus construction work and state-based road safety groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are also set for an interruption.
Nevertheless, the situation remains fluid. House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) has secured a promise that future Senate legislation will assuage his panel's frustration with a provision in the pending jobs bill that would apply 2009 earmarks to $932 million in 2010 transportation grants.
That agreement helps pave the way for House passage of the Senate jobs bill, perhaps as soon as Tuesday. If both chambers can agree quickly on that jobs bill, which would extend the 2005 federal transport law until 2011, the flow of federal funding for local projects likely would turn back on without senators having to break through Bunning's one-man filibuster...
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Mon, March 1, 2010
by Crystal Drwenski