Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
DC Streetsblog

John Mica Sidelined by House Leadership for Transpo Bill Rewrite

CQ and AmericaBikes are reporting that Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) has received a rebuke from House leadership, and will play a lesser role as the House reworks its foundering transportation bill. Mica will retain his chairmanship, but he will take a back seat to Railroad Subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA).

According to CQ's Richard Cohen and Nathan Hurst (link forthcoming):

The Speaker's move shows uncharacteristic willingness by [Speaker John] Boehner to publicly rebuke a chairman and turn to other leaders on a panel when that chairman does not draft a bill that can gain the support of a majority of Republicans.

Even before becoming Speaker, Boehner warned he would have little patience for committee chairmen who do not do their homework. "Chairmen shouldn't be content to churn out flawed bills and then rely on their leadership to bail them out," he said in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in fall 2010.

Shuster's go-between role is unusual in part because he ranks 10th in the party seniority on the panel. But GOP leaders needed someone to help tap the panel's technical expertise, and Shuster has unusual cachet for a junior lawmaker because his father, Bud Shuster, R-Pa., reigned as the panel's powerful chairman from 1995 to 2000.

Shuster talks a hard line in favor of giving states a blank check to dictate transportation policy, and told an audience at this year's TRB annual meeting that "when you start getting into the inner city, the federal government has less of a role to play. It’s up to the local community and state to decide [their transportation priorities]." Presumably it was this philosophy that guided the house's evisceration of transit, bicycle, and pedestrian funding the first time around.

The House Republicans are meeting privately today and tomorrow to formulate a strategy for their transportation bill, according to CQ. Stay tuned for more on Mica and Shuster as it becomes available.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Metro Breaks Ground on Early Phase of Southeast Gateway Light Rail Construction

The initial $7 billion SE Gateway Line segment will extend 14.5 miles from Artesia to the South L.A. community of Florence, with connections to the Metro A and C Lines

October 31, 2024

Foothill Transit Granted Near $17M for Hydrogen Buses and New Route

Foothill's new Line 295 will connect Metro A Line light rail to the SGV’s biggest colleges

October 30, 2024

Metro/Caltrans 105 Freeway ExpressLanes Project Would Expand Freeway, Add Pollution to Already Burdened Communities

Metro and Caltrans are planning to expand the current ten-lane 105 Freeway to twelve lanes, plus adding new auxiliary lanes, widening ramps, and widening streets.

October 30, 2024
See all posts