October 5, 2009

Climate Bill Introduced in the Senate
CLEAN TRANSPORTATION FUNDING INCLUDED, ALLOWANCES NOT YET SET

Last Wednesday, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced their 821-page climate bill, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. The legislation, designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions by setting a 2020 target of 20 percent emissions reduction below 2005 levels, has a long road to go in order to get to the 60 votes needed for passage. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is expected to start holding hearings on the measure in the coming weeks.

The transportation portion of the bill follows fairly closely to the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (HR 2454), which was passed by the House in June. States and metropolitan regions would be required to include targets and strategies for reducing transportation emissions in long-range transportation plans. The Senate bill differs from the House version in that it would slightly increase federal investment in transit and other low-carbon transportation systems. In the House bill, states have the option to use up to 10 percent of their portion of the allocations for such investment, but in the Senate version it is required that at least 10 percent of the state energy efficiency fund be used towards addressing transportation emissions and there is additional funding for transit agencies in the state adaptation account. The overall allowances that would determine the amount of funding going toward transportation have not been set. In the House bill, states were given 10 percent, with up to 10 percent for transit, making only 1% of the overall funding in the bill available for transportation. If the policy included in CLEAN-TEA (S 575) were to be followed, the Senate bill would be raised to 10 percent. Changes to the bill's provisions regarding allowances and allocations are expected to be made in the coming weeks as the legislation moves through committee. For more information, read the climate bill summary on our action page or download this summary.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senator that 1% for transportation is not enough!

The immediate future for surface transportation programs is uncertain. Funding for transportation programs will continue at FY 2009 levels through at least the end of the month. Although, an $8.7 billion rescission of funds that was written into SAFETEA-LU, has been allowed to take effect. For highway programs, this means that funding will be at post-rescission levels of about $30 billion a year or approximately $12 billion less than the $42 billion included in the FY 2010 budget request.

On September 23, the House had approved a measure that would have extended funding for three months, but did not address the $8.7 billion rescission. The Senate's version of the measure did include a provision to roll back the scheduled rescission but lawmakers failed to approve the legislation. Disagreements amongst lawmakers on how to pay for the offset of repealing the rescission, either through TARP funds or unspent stimulus dollars, caused the demise of the measure.

Transportation programs will continue to receive funding until the end of the month because the FY 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, which was signed into law on October 1, included a one-month stopgap resolution. Although the continuing resolution extends funding at FY 2009 levels, transportation programs will receive $8.7 bill less than last year, unless Congress acts to replace funding or authorize a new surface transportation program.

Keep track of SGA's current advocacy work and get valuable resources to bolster your own efforts on our action page.

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