Federal officials recommend full funding for BART extension to San Jose
By Gary Richards
The deal to extend BART to the South Bay is finally clearing its last major hurdle after a six-decade struggle.
On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Transportation will recommend to Congress that more than $900 million in federal aid be set aside for BART over the next decade — the entire amount sought by local transportation officials for the $2.3 billion extension from Fremont to San Jose.
“This is it,” said Jack d’Annibale, communications director for Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose. “We’re on the goal line going in.”
Congress has 60 days to review the recommendation, but officials say that is a mere formality. Federal money would be parceled out over several years, with $130 million earmarked in the budget President Barack Obama sent to Congress for the next fiscal year. Full Story
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Former preschool teacher and senior Washington State Senator, Patty Murray, chaired the Senate Budget Reduction Committee that failed it’s assignment last November. She is on the following Agenda 21-related Senate Committees:
Appropriations Committee
Within the Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies. Murray also serves on the following subcommittees
- Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee
- Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
- Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee
- Defense Subcommittee
- Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee
- Homeland Security Subcommittee
If she wants to redeem herself for the budget bungling of 2011, this would be a good place to start, IMO.
~LTG


