Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about House of Representatives

Level the Commuter Playing Field By Reducing the Tax Break for Parking

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 2, 2014 | No Comments

Happy New Year, transit riders! Congress has a special present: Some of you will be getting a tax increase this year. Legislation that puts tax subsidies for transit commuters on equal footing with car commuters has been allowed to expire by Congress. That means people who drive to work can deduct up to $250 in […]

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Will Old Transit Systems Eat Up All the New Starts Grants?

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 17, 2013 | No Comments

One of MAP-21’s many mixed blessings was the New Starts Core Capacity program. It expanded eligibility for New Starts grants — normally reserved as capital assistance for new transit lines — to existing corridors. To qualify, the system just had to show that the improvements would expand the capacity of the line by at least […]

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A Conservative Utah Republican’s Path to Transit Enlightenment

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 13, 2013 | No Comments

Greg Hughes is the majority whip of the Utah State Legislature and the chair of its conservative caucus. He got a 100 percent score last year by the conservative Sutherland Institute, a Utah think tank. He also chairs the board of the Utah Transit Authority. The man loves transit. Hughes grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. […]

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Budget Deal Is Good News for Transit

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 12, 2013 | No Comments

The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on that rarest of Capitol Hill treasures — a bipartisan budget deal. If both houses approve the deal, negotiated by Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, it will be the first time since 2010 that Congress has passed a budget. The deal would erase […]

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Was TIGER Eliminated in the Shutdown Deal?

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 24, 2013 | No Comments

Soon after the government shutdown ended, we heard murmurs that the TIGER grant program for innovative transportation projects had been a casualty of the negotiations. Under the rules of the Office of Management and Budget, any program that was de-funded in either chamber’s bill would be de-funded in the continuing resolution (the temporary budget) until […]

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Government Shutdown to End, Leaving Transit Agencies to Pick Up the Pieces

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 16, 2013 | No Comments

Congratulations, gentle Congresspeople. You have come up with a deeply flawed solution to a problem only you would create. Never mind that it set up another showdown three months from now. The good news is the government shutdown is almost over, for the moment. More than 18,000 furloughed U.S. DOT officials can return to work. […]

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