It seems like every year, we open our September federal policy post wondering whether the government will shut down on October 1 due to Congress failing to pass a budget, and unfortunately, 2024 is no different! So, will the government shut down? Our crystal ball tells us it won’t.
August recess is upon us, which means lawmakers are back in their home states and districts. With the entire House up for re-election, and one-third of the Senate and The White House on the ballot in November, lawmakers and candidates are making the case for (re) election to their constituents.
Even though it’s early January, it feels like Groundhog Day has come early. The third potential government shutdown in five months is looming (January 19th) because Congress has not passed a budget or long-term continuing resolution.
November marked two years since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and when it comes to how states are implementing the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), there is a lot to celebrate! Let’s look back at some of the biggest changes to the program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and how they impacted states’ implementation of TAP.
This guest blog post was written by Emma Wu, a 15 year-old Houston YMCA Youth and Government student. Emma attends a public school in Houston, the most diverse city in the nation. She assumed all teens had the same access to healthy lifestyles and physical activity. That changed when she began working on the Active Communities mock legislation project.
I love hearing from our Safe Routes to School and active transportation community with questions about what’s happening on Capitol Hill and with federal policy. Here are some of the questions I got this month while Congress was on recess – and answers to those questions.
What federal funding programs are open that I can apply for to improve walking and bicycling?
At the close of the third quarter of 2023, a few things stand out when we review the quarterly State of the States spreadsheet tracking states’ implementation of the Transportation Alternatives Program. For starters, states are doing a great job obligating funds. In quarter 3, which ended on June 30, 2023, states obligated over $255 million in projects that support walking, bicycling, and Safe Routes to School.
This blog post was collaboratively written by Marisa Jones (Safe Routes Partnership), Caron Whitaker (League of American Bicyclists), and Mende Yangden (National Resources Defense Council).
