HONOLULU — The U.S. Senate appropriations committee is supporting a bill allocating $250 million for a rail line in Honolulu.

Sen. Daniel Inouye’s office says the committee voted 28 to 1 in favor of the bill on Thursday.

The Hawaii Democrat, who is the chairman of the appropriations committee, is among those voting for the bill.

The full Senate will vote on the measure before it goes to the House of Representatives.

The city broke ground on the 20-mile elevated track last year. The line will include 21 stations from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/Mi0LRs78fqU/

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By Daniel Malloy

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON — When Northern Virginia leaders attempted a regional tax increase referendum to fund transportation improvements in 2002, it hit several types of resistance.

Dave Robertson, of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, said last week that there were some who did not trust how the money would be spent, others who did not like the transit/roads mix in the infrastructure package and “there was the no-tax-for-anybody crew in there.”

The crowd of about 100 political, business and community leaders visiting from the Atlanta region laughed knowingly.

The July 31 transportation referendum vote was a big topic for the Atlanta Regional Commission’s annual LINK trip, as ARC board members who attended are heavily promoting the 10-year, 1 percent sales tax, and the trip participants were a decidedly pro-referendum crowd. The trip is a chance for metro Atlanta leaders to learn from what other regions have done and to network with one another.

They got a cautionary tale from Washington region officials, both from the failed 2002 regional vote for a 0.5 percent sales tax and an unsuccessful effort this year by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to persuade his Legislature to increase the state’s gas tax.

Robertson’s advice to his Southern counterparts: “You’ve got to be crystal clear on what it’s going to fund, almost down to the intersection of First and Main,” he said in an interview. “People are going to have to be able to visualize what they’re going to get.”

After hearing from Robertson, ARC Chairman Tad Leithead said he plans to make the transportation referendum campaign less “esoteric.” Efforts to reach voters — including a multimillion-dollar television and radio ad campaign — depict the referendum as a way to solve gridlock and create jobs, but Leithead said the campaign needs more specifics.

“We need to say: ‘Is it hard for you to get through 285 and Ga. 400 at 8 o clock in the morning? Would you like to be able to take transit to the airport if you live in Gwinnett? Do you ever get frustrated by Spaghetti

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/Y2dN_bkNgZ0/transportation-referendum-a-major-1423984.html

Star-Ledger file photosPort Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni (left) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The Star-Ledger editorial board says Baroni’s verbal assault on Lautenberg at a hearing was out of line.

If taking offered benefits is a crime, then Baroni is a felon and the governor is his high-flying accomplice.

Bill Baroni, the former state senator who is now a senior executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is normally an affable fellow. But it seems he’s been infected by Gov. Chris Christie’s brand of schoolyard bullying.

So Baroni went to Washington for a hearing Wednesday and dug his fangs into U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), whose sin was to ask why on earth any New Jersey driver should have to pay up to $15 to get into Manhattan.

Baroni, a Republican who is fast becoming the governor’s most ferocious guard dog, dodged the question and lunged at Lautenberg.

“Respectfully, Senator, you only started paying tolls recently,” he said. “For years, Senator, as a former commissioner of my agency, you received free E-ZPasses year after year. … It is impossible to argue about fairness in tolls if you don’t have to pay them.”

Really? Lautenberg was elected by voters. It’s his job to ask precisely this kind of question on their behalf.

He got the free E-ZPass because it was a perk handed out to all commissioners until 2007. Yes, the perk is annoying and killing it was a good move.

But commissioners don’t get paid for their service. And Lautenberg didn’t ask for any special treatment on the basis of being a U.S. senator. He only took advantage of a benefit that was offered, much like the governor takes rides in his helicopter.

And what about Baroni’s benefits? With the governor’s approval, he earns a whopping $290,000 as the authority’s deputy executive director and he’s assigned a car, as well. If taking offered benefits is a crime, then Baroni is a felon and the governor is his high-flying accomplice.

The truth, though, is that Baroni

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/z_cpSbtsdhg/port_authority_execs_toll_atta.html

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Pendleton County got $51.7 million more because the House and Senate attached funding for widening U.S. 27. And Meade County was a big winner mostly because the legislature added more than $20 million each for improvements to Ky. 313 and Ky. 79.

Although there were many big winners, Beshear vetoed projects only within Williams’ district.

Kerri Richardson, spokeswoman for Besher said the administration’s analysis of the final legislative plan showed “no one else came even close to the egregious changes made by Sen. Williams at everyone else’s expense.”

A review of each legislative district showed that the $141 million added to Williams’ district was more than was added to any other district. Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard got the second biggest increase at $105 million.

Losing counties

Hart County was the biggest loser because the House and Senate proposed fewer dollars than Beshear for widening I-65. But the final plan still included $150 million over six years for the high-priority safety project.

The senator who represents Hart, Republican Whip Carroll Gibson of Leitchfield said, the project “is basically moving as fast as possible for all six years.”

Kenton County was next behind Hart, losing nearly $62.5 million. The legislature swapped out reliable funding Beshear provided for planning of a replacement for the Brent Spence Bridge with nonexistent state construction funds.

“It’s not something I was particularly pleased to see,” said Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Erlanger. “I don’t know what the thinking was, because I didn’t get to sit in on those budget talks.”

But Westwood said he assumed negotiators decided not to devote funding to the project until plans are more firm in two years.

Henderson County got trimmed $39.1 million, nearly all of which the governor proposed for improvements to U.S. 60.

“To say the least, I am concerned and disappointed that this got changed,” said Sen. Dorsey D-Henderson.

And Senate Democratic Whip Jerry Rhoads,

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/AoKLTGiScBk/More-counties-gain-than-lose-under-Kentucky-legislature-s-rewritten-road-project-plan

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“But we’re only fighting over one person. Now, you know, at some point, people got to put on their big boy pants, suck it up and quit screwing the taxpayers, because that’s exactly what we’re getting ready to do.”

Thursday afternoon, it was unclear how the full Senate and the House would react to Leeper’s amendment.

“I did not know prior to today’s AR meeting that Chairman Leeper would restore the vetoed infrastructure projects to HB 2 and, while appreciative of his sentiments, I am still considering with leadership the path forward,” Williams said.

House leaders were still trying to figure out what to do as well.

“We’ll talk to our caucus about it and see what happens,” Stumbo said.

If the Senate passes Leeper’s amendment and the House rejects it, it could throw the session into disarray and potentially extend it. But if the House accepts the changes, it would toss the issue to Beshear, who could then veto Williams’ projects again.

“The governor will review the Transportation budget when it reaches his desk, and he expects to receive it Friday,” said Kerri Richardson, Beshear’s spokeswoman.

Bridges

The Senate maneuvering came as proponents of the Ohio River Bridges Project rallied in the Capitol to urge passage of the road funding measure.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer spoke at the rally and urged lawmakers to fund the project, which he called an important gateway to the state and the biggest economic development project in a lifetime.

“We are so close,” he said. “If it were a football game, we’re on the two-inch line. We are appreciative of all the hard work that went into this, but let’s go ahead and put it into the end zone.”

Prescription drugs

And while the road funding measure appears to be on track to be voted on today, the fate of House Bill 1, a controversial measure to combat prescription drug abuse,

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/UHaFvFUinds/Senate-committee-restores-road-projects-vetoed-by-Beshear

Budget subcommittees in both legislative houses conducted hearings this week on whether to appropriate money for Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to link the northern and southern halves of the state with a high-speed bullet train.

The Assembly’s hearing was, charitably, superficial.

This is the largest state public works project in U.S. history, one that would cost tens of billions of dollars and divert money from a deficit-ridden state budget. Independent reviewers, including the Legislature’s own budget analyst, have expressed serious doubts as to its financial viability.

The Assembly subcommittee’s members, however, treated it just like another routine budget request. Several were downright gushy over the bullet train, unwilling to delve into the very serious questions about its efficacy.

Don’t confuse us with the facts, they implied, because we’ve already made up our minds and are ready to rubber-stamp the request under direction from the Assembly’s Democratic leadership.

A few hours later, the Senate budget subcommittee chaired by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, took up the same request. The contrast was stark.

“Our job is oversight, not cheerleading,” Simitian declared. And he meant it.

Simitian and Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, grilled officials of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, particularly Chairman Dan Richard, about the project’s finances, especially the federal government’s insistence that construction begin in the San Joaquin Valley and the lack of firm funding for any expansion beyond that initial segment.

The authority’s latest plan assumes that the federal government will put up nearly two-thirds of the cost of building the system from San Francisco to Los Angeles. But there’s no guarantee, or even any reasonable assumption, that the feds will put up the money.

Brown and Richard have dangled the notion of using proceeds of “cap-and-trade” fees being levied to curb greenhouse gases as another source of bullet train money, but the Legislative Analyst’s Office, among others, doubts the legality of that use.

The exchanges between Simitian and Richard, while cordial, were very pointed as Richard tried to avoid being pinned down on the financial picture – for good reason. The implication

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/nF6OPC89ODM/dan-walters-hearings-on-californias.html

The experts who study the U.S. Senate struggled Thursday to recall another case where a committee witness responded by attacking a senator’s personal integrity just as Governor Christie’s top executive at the Port Authority did to Sen. Frank Lautenberg this week.

But those who know Christie aren’t surprised.

“Chris Christie is ticked off at Frank Lautenberg and he’s sicced the dogs on him,” said Monmouth University professor Patrick Murray. “The message is, ‘If you want to play games, let’s play games.’ You can argue about who started it, but this is just a personal fight.”

On Wednesday, Bill Baroni, deputy executive director and Christie’s point man at the bistate agency, challenged the senator’s right to question toll increases by disclosing the free EZ-Pass and parking benefits Lautenberg received as a former authority commissioner.

Christie defended Baroni’s actions Thursday, calling the millionaire senator an “embarrassment to the state” for accepting the benefits and then convening a hearing the impact of toll increases.

“I am absolutely thrilled that Bill Baroni went down there and defended himself. He did not allow himself to be a victim of another one of Frank Lautenberg’s, you know, thuggish political shows,” said Christie, a Republican.

Lautenberg, D-N.J., said in a statement the governor was “so afraid of answering legitimate questions that he resorts to distractions and juvenile name-calling. These desperate tactics by the governor and the Port Authority clearly show that they are working to cover up something.”

Historians and political scientists said that what Baroni did just doesn’t happen at hearings, even in today’s world where political slugfests are standard fare on cable news.

“It’s highly unusual,” said Vanderbilt University professor Bruce I. Oppenheimer. “It’s like an unassisted triple play, you never go to the ballpark expecting to see one.”

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/B6wuidVgL6k/Experts_weigh_in_on_Christies_comment_that_Lautenberg_is_an_embarrassment_to_the_state.html

A bill opening up Missouris highways to a garish expansion of digital billboards has returned this session after Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a similar version last year. /ppLegislation has already passed the Senate and is headed for the House floor. Its authors have deleted a provision that Nixon cited as objectionable a restriction on local governments prohibiting billboards. But that doesnt mean this bill is good for Missouri./ppIt would clear the way for hundreds of billboards to be converted to digital advertisements. Current law says only billboards that comply with all federal and state rules can be digital. Senate Bill 607 would roll back the compliance date to Aug. 27, 1999 one day before double-stacked signs were outlawed. It would also allow digital advertising on signs that are less than 500 feet apart./ppThe billboard industry has fought hard for this bill. While printing a traditional billboard sign can cost $1,000 and up, signs can be created digitally through a computer file for much less. /ppIndustry advocates say the high cost of converting a billboard to digital will prevent a proliferation. But opponents note that the cost can be expected to drop, as digital becomes the preferred method./ppThe bottom line is that Missouri has too many billboards. They have turned Interstate 70 into a visual nightmare and have created the wrong impression of Missouri as an unappealing state to drive through. /ppLegislation should be aimed at reducing billboard clutter, not lighting it up with digital bells and whistles.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/ddeqXbOZjas/the-stars-editorial-stop-expansion.html

Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza has ruled that the state must pay more than $3 million for the deaths of two people who died when their car fell from a scenic overlook on Honoapiilani Highway in 2005.

Cardoza issued his ruling Wednesday, saying the state invited the public to use the overlook, but that drivers did not know that the area was not stable and “the grave danger its condition presented.”

Denise Callo, the driver, and James Makekau, a passenger, died when the car fell April 13, 2005 from a remnant of the Old Pali Highway that had been used by the public for decades as an unofficial scenic lookout area, according to Michael Livingston, a lawyer for Makekau’s family.

Two others who were in the car that fell to the shoreline survived the accident.

In a 200-page opinion, Cardoza awarded $1.9 million to Makekau’s family and $1.1 million to Callos’ family. The judge also ordered the state to pay $250,000 to Tiffany Romena, who survived the crash.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/9iFpzGEyDVA/148178825.html

The state Senate capped a day of debate on police behavior Thursday by overwhelmingly adopting a measure to revitalize faltering state efforts to monitor and prohibit racial profiling of motorists.

Earlier Thursday the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 24-11, largely along party lines, to approve a bill to protect citizens’ right to record police officers performing their duties. Senators passed the anti-profiling bill 31-3.

Both measures now head to the House of Representatives.

Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, who is African American, said neither his son, nor any other person, should be stopped by police or otherwise considered a threat because of any attributes determined solely by birth.

“I don’t want just his appearance, what he looks like because of race or ethnicity, to be interpreted as suspicious,” Coleman said. “I think that is entirely inappropriate.”

Connecticut’s 13-year-old racial profiling law has come under increasing criticism in recent years. Reports from the Hartford Courant have shown efforts to collect and analyze traffic stops in relation to race, ethnicity and gender have failed at numerous levels.

• The state’s African-American Affairs Commission never has met its statutory obligation to file an annual report on profiling.
• That panel’s annual budget, which stands at $220,551, consistently fell  far short, year after year, of the level needed to prepare an analysis of statewide profiling data. Nonpartisan legislative researchers estimate such a report would cost about $600,000.
• A recent study concluded that only 27 police departments consistently file annual reports required by state law to show whether minorities are targeted in traffic stops. No one has analyzed the limited data that has been filed since 2001.

The anti-profiling bill sets standards for reporting the information and shifts responsibility for its analysis from the Commission on African-American Affairs to the Office of Policy and Management, which has staff and resources unavailable to the commission.

The new legislation also allows OPM to withhold public safety-related state funds from communities that don’t comply.

Though most GOP senators backed the anti-profiling bill, Canton Republican Kevin Witkos, a 28-year veteran of that community’s police force, argued that while profiling is wrong, the measure was flawed.

Rather than requiring officers to guess at

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/tWdx6om95Zg/senate-tackles-racial-profiling-recording-cops