Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Transportation Policy

New House Jobs Bill Dominated by Aid to Cities

7:21 AM PST on March 11, 2010

Soon after the Senate signed off
yesterday on a $150 billion package of tax extenders and unemployment
benefits that was promoted as a job-creation measure -- a bill that
lacked dedicated new funding for transportation -- Democrats on the
House education and labor committee were releasing their own jobs legislation.

The
House proposal also lacks specific infrastructure funding, but its
structure reflects a shift that could hearten urban planners and other
advocates for a more city-centric approach to federal transportation
funding. Three-quarters of the bill's estimated $100 billion in aid
would go directly to cities and counties to help avert layoffs of
firefighters, police, and other workers.

Mayors had pressed for more transportation stimulus spending to go directly to cities but lost
the political battle, as the lion's share of the $48 billion in road
and transit aid in last year's recovery package was diverted through
state DOTs. Many urban governments anticipate
budget shortfalls in 2010 that could exceed those at the height of the
financial crisis, with transit cuts and delays in infrastructure
projects looming as consequences of the cash crunch.

Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the education and labor panel's chairman, told Roll Call yesterday that he hopes mayors will use their political leverage to help the bill move forward in the Senate.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Guest Opinion: Ten Years In, CA Active Transportation Program Lays Bare a Tale of Two Agencies

L.A. County needs to embrace physically-protected bikeways, robust traffic calming around schools, and similarly transformative, safety-focused projects

September 29, 2023

Eyes on the Station: Metro Fortified Turnstiles at MacArthur Park Station

Metro fortified turnstile entrances at MacArthur Park in order to curb fare-evading riders; sometimes this has adverse impacts on fare-paying riders

September 27, 2023
See all posts