Bill Process and Timeline
Federal policy can be a confusing beast. Here’s America Bikes’ plain English breakdown of what’s going on and when.
Congress rarely runs smoothly these days, and infighting has slowed progress again.
In the Senate...
Due to some strife in the Senate, it looks like the Cardin-Cochran amendment may not come up until the week of Februrary 27th, after the Congressional recess.
While this vote will be later than we had originally hoped, it's also a good thing for grassroots action. Now Senators should be in their home districts the week of February 20th, and are more likely to be available for in-district meetings.
Want your Senator to support the Cardin-Cochran amendment? Take them on a bike ride! Show then the projects your community could build with dedicated funding for walking and biking.
Learn more about the Senate's transportation bill here.
In the House...
The House has been keeping us on our toes, too. HR-7, the House's no-good transportation bill that would eliminate dedicated funding for walking and biking, had been moving forward, with debate and amendment votes scheduled to start on Wednesday the 15th.
In a last-minute pivot, though, John Boehner delayed the vote on HR-7 until after the week of recess.
We're seeing this delay as a sign of success. Boehner's delay signals that he can't find enough votes to pass HR-7, thanks to opposition from the many people who have spoken up about this terrible bill.
For a more thorough account of the HR-7 delay, see this article from Streetsblog.
Learn more about the House's transportation bill here.
