The House-Senate conference committee tasked with negotiating a long-term transportation bill is in the thick of discussions. Last week, the lead Senate conferees, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) hand-delivered a proposal to House negotiators. Their proposal reportedly included the transportation policies outlined in the Senate’s MAP-21, which would provide stable funding through the 2013 fiscal year and reform the transportation system, particularly strengthening public transit. The Senate proposal did not address unrelated and controversial measures, like approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, that House members have demanded.

House negotiators responded last week and this week. Unfortunately, their counteroffers would take away local control of biking and walking funds, make it harder to improve street safety, and potentially hold up a deal.

Local Control of Walking and Biking Funds Under Threat

House negotiators have proposed unraveling the “Cardin-Cochran” compromise in the Senate’s bill. The Senate’s bill allows states to “opt out” of what it calls an “Additional Activities” fund (which would include all the biking/walking funds now covered by Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, and Recreational Trails). Cardin-Cochran ensures that municipal planning organizations and local governments get access to these funds before the state can opt out.

In an action alert sent earlier this week, Transportation For America said the House proposal would “give the state sole power over whether local communities can fix dangerous conditions for kids on the way to school, for elderly pedestrians, or anyone who walks or uses a bicycle,”  and called it “a direct slap in the face of city councils, mayors, and county leaders.”

That House proposal comes after the failure of House leadership to pass a long-term transportation bill of its own. Click here to tell your members of Congress to speak up for local control of biking, walking, and other community funds.

Time Running Out

With less than a month to go before existing law expires on June 30, pressure is again mounting on Congress to take action. On Friday, Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy and Sen. Richard Blumenthal called on Congress to pass a long-term bill and cited the Senate’s MAP-21 bill as a model to follow, with Blumenthal saying that “the House of Representatives is a house divided. This used to be bipartisan legislation, but now a small minority in the House is causing a logjam.”  Last month, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Long Island Republican Rep. Peter King agreed on the urgency of the need for a bill to pass, with King telling Newsday that ”a clear majority of the House”  wanted a long-term bill, and that he was “doing all I can.”

Similar calls to action are coming from legislators across the country and from groups like the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

One glimmer of cooperation came last week after the House overwhelmingly voted down a non-binding “motion to instruct,” which would have called on conferees to cut transportation spending by about 30%, failed overwhelmingly, in a 82-323 vote. Only two House members from this region voted for the motion — NJ Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Sussex/Morris/Hunterdon Counties) and upstate NY Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-Syracuse). The motion had been seen as an effort to torpedo the Senate’s bill.

Even as negotiations proceed furiously, House leaders appear to be laying the groundwork for failure. House Speaker John Boehner recently suggested that if talks break down, he would support a 6-month extension of existing law. Such an extension would expire near the end of the year, at a time when Congress must deal with a slew of expiring tax cuts and planned spending cuts. At the same time, the Highway Trust Fund would be on the verge of bankruptcy, making it potentially impossible to extend current law again.