Federal Funding Ban On Light Rail Continues In Houston

"Local lawmakers couldn't persuade House colleagues to support an amendment ending the ban on federal funding for light rail in Houston. That ban was inserted in last year's spending bill by House Majority Whip Tom DeLay in an effort to block the 7.5-mile Main Street rail line now under construction. Houston transit officials subsequently cobbled together local money for the Main Street starter line, hoping to subsidize any expansions approved by voters with federal money." A voice vote of House members defeated the measure intended to strike the ban, which effectively keeps Houston as the only city prohibited from building light rail with federal dollars.