Senate Committee Approves Same Transit Funding as House
In another step towards a new multi-year transportation bill, a Senate committee has approved legislation authorizing $44.3 billion over the 2005-2009 period for the federal mass transit program, the same amount the House and President Bush recommended over that span. But panel members indicated they will press to increase that funding when the measure comes to the Senate floor, maybe in April.
The bill, which the Senate Banking Committee cleared March 17 on a voice vote, will be linked to a $190-billion highway title that the Environment and Public Works Committee approved the previous day and then taken up on the Senate floor.