CNN.com
From Ted Barrett and Deirdre Walsh, CNN
March 22, 2012 -- Updated 0933 GMT
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With less than two weeks before federal money runs out for transportation projects across the country, a partisan showdown is developing between Senate Democrats and House Republicans over passing a new bill.
The standoff, based on sharply differing views about the overall expense of the bill and how to pay for it, jeopardizes thousands of road and bridge construction projects.
On Wednesday, House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Florida, said the House would soon pass a three-month extension of existing funding to provide time for negotiations over a longer-term bill.
But that idea was rejected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who said Tuesday he was "inclined not to" pass a temporary funding extension. Instead, Reid said House Republicans should accept a two-year, $109 billion bill that recently passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Thu, March 22, 2012
by John Cox