Transit funding increased to win Dem highway bill votes

A big increase in funding for public transportation projects contributed to Democrats voting to move forward with a federal highway bill on Wednesday, said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

{mosads}“We fought back an effort to shortchange American commuters who depend on public transportation to get to their jobs and contribute to the economy,” he said in a statement. 

“It’s critical that we provide the resources needed to keep our transit systems safe and affordable.”

Brown said Democrats insisted on increasing the amount of money for transit projects from $200 million to $815 million in exchange for supporting the procedural vote.

The vote actually divided Democrats, with some voting to move forward and others voting against the motion.

Republicans also eliminated a provison related to Social Security to win over Democrats.

Federal funding for highway and infrastructure projects will expire at the end of the month without action by Congress. 

Federal transportation funding is typically split between road and transit projects on an 80 percent to 20 percent basis. The money is stored in a separate Mass Transit Account within the Department of Transportation’s Highway Trust Fund, created during the Reagan administration.

Brown said the original proposal from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would have reduced the transit portion to just 6 percent of the total highway bill. 

“In its original form, the transportation bill would have steered $3.2 billion in new revenue to roads and $200 million to transit, shortchanging Ohio commuters who depend on public transportation,” Brown’s office said.

The Ohio senator’s office added his push to revive the 80-20 breakdown between roads and transit in the Senate’s proposed bill “restored the traditional split between new money for roads and transit, which will mean a fair share for Ohio’s transit systems over the next three years.” 

GOP leaders are racing to beat the month-end deadline for replenishing the beleaguered Highway Trust Fund. The Department of Transportation has warned that it will have to cut back on payments to state and local governments unless Congress reaches an agreement to keep the dollars flowing.  

Lawmakers in the Senate have worked on a multi-year transportation bill, but the measure was initially voted down in a procedural vote on Tuesday, in part because Democrats objected to the GOP’s proposed payment measures for the roads bill. 

The transit funding restoration was one of several concessions made by McConnell as he tried to win support from Democrats.

The most high-profile concession thus far was a decision to scrap a proposal to pay for some of the funding with $2.3 billion obtained by stopping the payment of Social Security benefits to people with felony warrants. That led to a successful vote to proceed with debate on the bill.