Update on Stimulus Action in the Senate — Keep Up the Pressure

The latest word from DC is that Kit Bond’s pro-highway/anti-rail amendments have yet to come to the floor, while the Inhofe/Boxer amendment to create a $50 billion highway slush fund is still being finalized by its authors. The phone calls and emails are having an effect — Boxer felt enough pressure to adjust her amendment, Transportation for America tells us, but the tweaks don’t go far enough. (This huge pool of money would not, for example, set aside any amount explicitly for transit.)

Advocates have to keep up the pressure on each count. Bond’s amendments are still very much a threat, and the Boxer/Inhofe amendment, while malleable, is a disaster waiting to happen in its current incarnation. The latest action item from T4A takes aim at both.

I hope you noticed that our Streetsblog Network Action Widget — it’s there on the right sidebar — is sporting a new call to arms for this latest fight in the Senate. If you’d like to add a dynamic action alert to your own blog or website, here are the instructions.

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Urgent Action: Oppose Highway Robbery in Senate Stim Bill

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Stimulus debate continues today in the Senate, where the stale ideas keep on coming. In addition to the $50 billion highway slush fund floated by Senators Boxer and Inhofe (no vote on that one yet), Missouri’s Kit Bond plans to offer two amendments that would rob from transit, rail, and green transportation to pay for […]

Senate’s $50 Billion Highway Giveaway Nearly Dead

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The Inhofe/Boxer stimulus bill amendment for $50 billion in additional infrastructure funds appears to be dead, with official word expected soon from Senator Harry Reid’s office. Sources close to the negotiations say that at least five Democratic Senators were not going to support the amendment if transit and water provisions weren’t improved, while Senate Republicans […]

Wiki Wednesday: The Story of the Stimulus

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Looks like the conference committee made quick work of the stimulus bill, with Harry Reid announcing that a deal has been reached much sooner than expected (perhaps a bit too prematurely). We’ll have the specifics on transportation funding later tonight or early tomorrow. For now, relive the stimulus saga with StreetsWiki. Contributor DianaD has added […]

It Gets Worse: Boxer/Inhofe to Request $50B More for Highways

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Barbara Boxer and infamous global warming denier James Inhofe will present an amendment to the Senate stimulus plan that could funnel as much as $50 billion in additional funding to highways, Streetsblog has learned. Friends of the Earth tells us that Boxer’s staff confirmed she will introduce the amendment, which could bring the total for […]

The Boxer/Inhofe Amendment: Not Green Enough

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A revised draft of the Boxer/Inhofe amendment just came over the transom from a source in DC close to the negotiations (PDF).  This is a draft from yesterday and negotiations are ongoing, so expect changes.  Specifically, enviros are trying to get a "green screen" put in place, so that USDOT can pick from the priority […]
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Boxer and Inhofe Make Their Offer to the House, Try to Avoid 10th Extension

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The time-and-venue change for Sen. Barbara Boxer’s press conference earlier today was apparently due to the fact that she was taking care of critical business: hand-delivering the Senate’s latest offer to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Chair John Mica (R-FL) wasn’t there to personally receive the document, which EPW Ranking Member James Inhofe joined […]