The unlikely Senate duo of James Inhofe and Barbara Boxer still seem to be planning an amendment that would put an extra $50 billion toward infrastructure. The original intent of the as-yet-unoffered amendment was reportedly to devote the whole sum to highway spending.
But a source close to the process tells us that Boxer received intense pressure from environmental and transit advocates and a flood of phone calls from displeased constituents and that this led her to rework the measure.
“It now looks like the amendment would include money for transit and water, in addition to roads,” says the source.
The balance among the three is still being negotiated and could have important implications. The recent balance in the federal transportation budget has been for 80% for highways and 20% for transit. The House version of the stimulus package was weighted more heavily towards transit. A massive roads-only amendment would represent a move in the the opposite direction. The balance in the final stimulus bill could chart a course for years ahead with respect to transportation policy.
The possible Boxer-Inhofe amendment would come in the wake of the narrow defeat on a technical vote of Patty Murray’s effort to put an additional $25 billion into infrastructure. Murray’s amendment included $13 billion additional funds for highways, $5 billion extra for transit, and $7 billion more for water. [12:10 AM]
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