As the bi-partisan Senate transportation bill cues up for its first vote on Thursday and the partisan House bill gets roughed up in committee, the prospects for reconciling the bills seems dim.
In The Washington Post, Ashley Halsey III recounts the rough ride the House's 5-year transportation bill received from both parties in various committees last week, where more than a hundred efforts to amend the bill, including a dogged battle over dedicated Mass Transit funds, were beaten back.
Meanwhile, at Transportation Nation, Todd Zwillich outlines the prospects for MAP-21, the Senate's two-year transportation bill, which seems likely to have the 60 votes required to move forward.
Seeing a tough path ahead for the House bill, and the overall prospects for a reconciled bill passing this year, Halsey writes that, "That exercise will be replayed when the bill reaches the House floor, very likely with the same result. The vast differences between it and a Senate bill caused some to doubt the two could be reconciled this year."
Read the full story: House Republicans’ transportation bill survives a beating in committees
Transportation Bill Clears House Committee
A five-year transportation bill has advanced in the House, but it has a long way to go before Americans should expect to see a final federal transportation policy emerge from Congress.
Key Players Frame Debate Over Next Federal Transportation Bill
The transportation bill known as MAP-21 expires in a little more than a year, but the key interest groups and political players are already staking out their positions. The posturing is compounded by the worsening state of the Highway Trust Fund.
GOP Up To Its Old Tricks on Transportation Bill
Tanya Snyder explores the recent horse-trading being proposed by House Republicans, in which they've expressed a willingness to pass the Senate transportation bill in exchange for Senate approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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