America Bikes, a national bicycle advocacy group and legislative watchdog, established to promote bicycling within the Capitol Complex in Washington, DC, reported July 22:
Late last night the House and Senate passed the tenth extension to TEA-21, giving lawmakers until Wednesday July 27th to resolve differences and present a bill to the President for his signature.
After a period of delay, we know that the process is moving again; the senior eight House and Senate conferees met yesterday evening in an effort to resolve a dispute over how much each state gets back from the gas taxes it collects for the Highway Trust Fund.
This had been a major stumbling block. It seems that there was also consensus on transit funding and optimists now suggest that a conference report may be available by next Tuesday. To our knowledge, bicycle and pedestrian provisions do not appear to be major issues impeding agreement.
America Bikes remains confident that a bill will be passed by the August recess starting August 1st and is grateful for your continued support and lobbying efforts. We are hearing some exciting rumors about bicycling provisions within the bill and will let you know when details are confirmed. But for now the campaign continues! Remember to check in at www.americabikes.org for regular updates on the progress of the bill as our Government Affairs team works hard to promote our agenda and bring us the very latest news.
