Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the Moving Forward Act vote "pointless political theater."
"The House on Wednesday passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that would sharply increase spending on roads and transit, push for deep reductions in pollution, direct billions to water projects, affordable housing, broadband and schools, and upgrade hospitals and U.S. Postal Service trucks," reports Miahcel Laris.
The Moving Forward Act includes the $500 billion INVEST in America Act, otherwise known as the House's version of the five-year federal transportation bill.
Laris describes how House democrats are describing the Moving Forward Act:
Backers, including Transportation Committee Chairman Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), said the bill represents an ambitious, years-in-the-making push to buttress and expand aging infrastructure in a sustainable way. Supporters said it marks a departure from traditional surface transportation legislation because of its emphasis on maintaining roads and bridges, building transit and reducing transportation-related pollution, the nation’s top source of greenhouse gases causing climate change.
That enthusiasm will run out when Republicans in the Senate and the executive branch consider the bill. President Trump promised to veto the bill, characterizing it as "full of wasteful ‘Green New Deal’ initiatives." It likely won't come to a veto, however, as Senate Majority Mitch McConnell characterized the bill as "pointless political theater" and "absurd."
FULL STORY: House passes $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill, but McConnell calls it ‘pointless political theater’
The 'INVEST in America Act' Would Help States Kick the Highway Habit
While Congress debates its bipartisan infrastructure deal, a House-approved bill, the INVEST in America Act, waits in the wings with the potential to alter the direction of transportation planning in the United States.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Heads to the House: Details and Reactions From the Planning World
Planetizen gathered explainer posts and advocacy responses that continue to shine a light on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, approved by the U.S. Senate earlier this month.
House Democrats Would Increase Transit Spending, Still Spend More on Highways
House Democrats proposed the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act as a five-year plan for transportation spending at the federal level. The bill is unlikely to make it any further than the House.
Red Cities, Blue Cities, and Crime
Homicides rose across the nation in 2020 and 2021. But did they rise equally in all cities, or was the situation worse in some than in others?
The Shifting Boomer Bulge: More Bad News for America’s Housing Crisis?
In the first of a two-part series, PlaceMakers’ Ben Brown interviews housing guru Arthur C. Nelson on the sweeping demographic changes complicating the housing market.
A Serious Critique of Congestion Costs and Induced Vehicle Travel Impacts
Some highway advocates continue to claim that roadway expansions are justified to reduce traffic congestion. That's not what the research shows. It's time to stop obsessing over congestion and instead strive for efficient accessibility.
IPCC Report: The World Is Running Out of Time on Climate Change
The planet is not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent report published by the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Skyline-Defining High-Rise Potentially Coming to Boise
A rendering making the rounds in Boise depicts a 40-story apartment building that would be taller than all other buildings in one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.
Buttigieg: Tesla ‘Autopilot’ Marketing ‘A Concern’
The USDOT secretary says marketing doesn’t fall under his department’s investigative authority, but expressed disapproval of language that implies autonomous operation.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) AmeriCorps Program
Cornell University
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility
City of Spearfish
City of Lomita
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
