Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Bill Moves to Senate Floor [UPDATE]

UPDATE OCT. 31, 2011: No amendments were offered to cut funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities programs at either the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Department of Transportation. The Senate is back from recess this week and is expected to vote on passage.

The following was originally posted on October 13, 2011:

The Senate begins consideration this week of three annual appropriations bills. With the 2012 fiscal year already underway and only one of the twelve appropriations bills approved so far, funding for the Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration; Commerce, Justice, and Science; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) bills will be taken up as a package. The federal government is currently operating on a temporary spending measure that expires on November 18th.

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Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Bill Moves to Senate Floor

The Senate begins consideration this week of three annual appropriations bills. With the 2012 fiscal year already underway and only one of the twelve appropriations bills approved so far, funding for the Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration; Commerce, Justice, and Science; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) bills will be taken up as a package. The federal government is currently operating on a temporary spending measure that expires on November 18th.

The THUD bill includes funding for the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Specifically, $90 million for the Department of Housing’s Sustainable Communities Initiative and $550 million for the Department of Transportation’s TIGER program.

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Senate votes to preserve funding for Partnership for Sustainable Communities programs

Washington, DC – The Senate Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development voted today to preserve funding for two key components of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities in the FY2012 appropriations bill. Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoff Anderson released the following statement:

“The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is helping dozens of communities across the country grow in ways that support their local economies and are fiscally responsible. We applaud the Senate for protecting these innovative, effective programs.

“The Partnership’s programs are helping small towns rebuild their main street, and they’re helping mid-sized cities improve their business districts. These projects are rebuilding roads, renovating abandoned properties, creating pedestrian friendly downtowns and dozens of other worthwhile projects that will help American communities recover from the economic downturn and stay strong in the coming decades. We strongly encourage Congress to approve funding for these critical programs.”

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DOT announces funding to be available for TIGER program

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that $527 million will be available for the third round of the highly successful TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) competitive grant program. TIGER grants fund innovative transportation projects that create jobs and have a significant impact on the nation, a region or a metropolitan area.

For this round of grants, projects will be selected based on their ability to contribute to the long-term economic competitiveness of the nation, improve the condition of existing transportation facilities and systems, improve energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improve the safety of U.S. transportation facilities and improve the quality of living and working environments of communities through increased transportation choices and connections. DOT will also focus on projects that are expected to quickly create and preserve jobs and spur rapid increases in economic activity.

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Six Months of Complete Streets

As July unfolds before us, we look back on the progress of the Complete Streets movement since the year began: We’ve seen incredible progress federally, and we celebrated two new state laws. Eighteen communities have committed to complete streets since January, and we released a Best Practices report on policies and implementation.

Complete Streets

Webinar: TIGER II Discretionary Grants and HUD Community Challenge Planning Grants

Webinar: National Infrastructure Investments (TIGER II Discretionary Grants) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Challenge Planning Grants Date/Time:  Thursday, July 1 at 2:00pm EDT The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and HUD have issued a joint solicitation for the two planning grant programs in order to better align transportation, housing, economic development, … Continued

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