June 29, 2009
Transit Bill Before Senate Finance Tuesday
The bill to expand local funding options for mass transit that also creates a new state intermodal/congestion relief grant fund – a non-highway approximation of the Highway Trust Fund – is set for a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee at 1 pm in room 544 of the Legislative Office Building.
Wedged in amongst ten other bills, consideration of the bill promises to be brisk. The word is that an amendment to cut the quarter cent sales tax referendum option for 94 counties will be offered. The half cent option for the Triangle and Triad counties would therefore remain. It appears that the increase in the registration fee for all 100 counties may survive, too. All revenues from these options would be dedicated to public transportation.
Whether the probability that the bill’s scope will be trimmed boosts or harms the likelihood that the House will concur with Senate changes is not clear. Also not yet clear is whether any counties will be added back into the bill as recipients of a 1/4 cent option upon request of a local member.
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6 Comments Add yours »
There are few issues more important than mass transit to NC. If we are to encourage tourism and not cause an end to the very natural beauty that attracts tourists we must provide mass transit.
Mass transit will provide needed jobs in construction and operations. Mass transite will relieve traffic and pollution. We have waited far too long to take a train from Asheville to Raleigh and all points in between.
Please do this now and fund it fully.
[...] See more here: The Progressive Pulse – Tran… [...]
[...] Highway Trust Fund – is set for a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Finance … Continued here: The Progressive Pulse – Transit Bill Before Senate Finance Tuesday This entry is filed under Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS [...]
[...] the original: The Progressive Pulse – Transit Bill Before Senate Finance Tuesday This entry is filed under Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS [...]
[...] Latest intel and whispers suggest that amendments may be offered in the Senate Finance Committee that, if passed, will change the bill that passed the House by a large margin (77-40) in fairly significant ways. More time behind the scenes may be needed to iron out differences. S 910, solely sponsored by Senate Finance Chair Dan Clodfelter, may offer some clues as to the desired direction by some Senate members, as does previous information on the bill outlined here. [...]
[...] See the original post here: The Progressive Pulse – Transit Bill Before Senate Finance Tuesday [...]