House passes Amtrak bill (for real this time)

Transit

House passes Amtrak bill (for real this time)

by David Alpert • June 11, 2008 4:56 pm

The House really did pass the Amtrak bill, this time by a healthy margin of 311 to 104. If almost everyone sticks to their votes, that's more than enough to override the potential veto. Thanks to commenter Ryan for the tip.

Photo by OberonInDC on Flickr.

Best of all: "Lawmakers approved an amendment, 295-127, from D.C.-region lawmakers in both parties authorizing $1.5 billion in grants over the next decade to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority."

Hey, Coburn: *thhhhbbbbbt*

Update: the WMATA funding still has to make it through the conference committee and be passed by the Senate, whose version didn't contain it.

4 comments

Tags: Congress, WMATA

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David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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Woot. This bill couldn't have come at a better time. I think the more gas goes up, the more people will think about funding trains and transit and living close together.

I was glad to see my representative from rural Oregon even voted for the bill, glad to see some conservatives on the side of transit.

BTW thanks for posting up the link to Weyrich, I am happy to see the transit issue represented by politicians of all persuasions.

Transit isn't a liberal or conservative issue, its an issue of common sense.

by Boots on Jun 12, 2008 11:41 am • link • report

Here's a quote from an article on cnnmoney.com right now about how Oklahoma city is the city to be worst affected by high gas prices.

"Oklahoma City's Couch said improving public transportation is a priority.

The city is several years into a study of a rail transit system in the hopes of attracting federal money for it."

by Rich on Jun 12, 2008 3:41 pm • link • report

I think Oklahoma City is where all the people who didn't vote for Tom Coburn live. To people like Coburn and Bush, the groups that don't vote for you are to be crushed, not wooed.

by David Alpert on Jun 12, 2008 4:27 pm • link • report

Andy- A tax break isn't a subsidy. You may think the 199 exemption sucks (and I don't the tax code should discriminate), but it's not a subsidy. Subsidies are affirmative outlays by the government, not reduced revenue. It's not a distinction without a difference either, it gets to the heart of property rights and who owns your property: you or the government.

BTW, this has nothing to do with transit. Funding transit is about priorities. Big highways are just as much a government project as transit. We should be defunding roads and funding transit, at all levels, regardless of what is in the tax code. It is royally screwed up, and if we are going to fix the tax code before we get down to doing transit, we're all going to be screwed too.

by Gleb on Jun 18, 2008 3:45 am • link • report