I'm at a loss for words.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/20 ... trans.html
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/20 ... trans.html
Legislation passed by the U.S. House to renew federal funding for highways, bridges, railroads and mass transit for the next six years would end a program that provides $50 million annually to NJ Transit.
The measure eliminated a special high-density public transportation program that provided more than $1.6 billion to NJ Transit and transit agencies in six other densely populated northeastern states: New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The seven states account for about half of all trips taken on public transit. Instead, the money was diverted to a grant program for buses for all states.
The Senate version of the transportation bill includes the transit money, and U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-8th Dist.), a member of the House-Senate conference committee that will iron out differences between the two bills, said he would push to make sure the funds remain in the final version.
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"I am concerned with the language contained in the House bill that would threaten crucial transit funds in New Jersey," Sires said.
Representatives from the affected states are being asked to sign a letter to the House negotiators, urging them to agree with the Senate and keep the transit funding program.
"A bill that was carefully crafted to do no harm and ensure no one lost anything now creates devastating loss in the areas where demand for public transportation is the highest," said the letter, which was also signed by U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.) and others. "An amendment that eliminates funding for states that provide public transportation to 50 percent of all transit riders in this country is irresponsible and can in no way be considered to be in the best interest of the people we all serve."
Senators from the affected states, including U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), are writing their own letter to the negotiators.
"This shortsighted and potentially devastating action by the House will blow a hole in the budgets of transit agencies serving the nation's most densely populated communities along the Northeast Corridor, including New Jersey Transit's," said Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking subcommittee overseeing mass transit.
For NJ Transit, the special grant money is earmarked for projects such as the Elizabeth train station renovation, track replacement and bus overhauls.
"This amendment would seriously impact our capital program," said Jennifer M. Nelson, an NJ Transit spokesman.
The legislation in total would authorize $325 billion for roads and rails over the next six years, including more than $9.6 billion for New Jersey. The Senate version provides $341 billion over six years.
The House Republican leadership agreed to allow a vote to eliminate the grant program while blocking a floor debate on Pascrell's proposal for a task force to come up ways to finance transportation, even if it meant raising the gasoline tax.
The bill paid for just the first three years of the six-year program, and Pascrell said he wanted to look at ways to come up with the rest of the money.
"Although the House Republican leadership closed the process and denied our bid to actually fund this bill on the floor, we are dedicated in our fight to accomplish our goal," Pascrell said.
