Jennifer Brown /The Star-LedgerRay LaHood, the nation’s top transportation official, right, passionately calls for House approval of a massive federal transportation bill. With him are U.S. Senators from New Jersey, Frank Lautenberg, center, and Robert Menendez, left.

HOBOKEN — Declaring “America is one big pothole,” the nation’s top transportation official visited its most-congested state Monday to express support for a federal bill he said would provide funds to repair crumbling roads and bridges and put contractors back to work.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, visiting Hoboken, said the clock is ticking for the House of Representatives to approve a bipartisan Senate transportation bill that calls for a 12-percent increase in highway funding for New Jersey and a 14-percent increase in transit funding.

The Senate bill, passed last week in a 74-22 vote, also would restore tax credits for commuters, retroactive to Jan. 1.

The two-year, $109 billion plan would help repair America’s 70,000 failing bridges, upgrade highways and save or create 2.8 million jobs, officials have said.

If a bill is not approved by the House by the end of March, construction projects could be halted.

“March Madness is supposed to happen on the basketball court, not in the chamber of the House of Representatives,” said U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who pushed the Senate bill.

LaHood said he hoped the House would take the Senate’s example and keep politics out of the bill.

“There’s never been politics in a transportation bill,” said LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois.

Standing at the Hoboken Terminal transportation hub, from where commuters can travel by rail, ferry, bus or taxi, LaHood said the transportation bill could be passed in short order — similar to what happened with the payroll tax.

“This is good for America, it’s good for New Jersey,” U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said of the Senate bill. “It’s about putting people to work. It’s about getting people to work.”

Ray Pocino, vice president of New Jersey Laborers’ Local Union No. 472, said the event in Hoboken was “about breaking Washington gridlock

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/qG5f7pJgJ7g/top_us_transportation_official.html

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NEWARK — Despite a policy decision to rein in unused sick and vacation time payments for nonunion workers, NJ Transit spent $4.112 million last year in payouts.

That total is up from the $3.67 million NJ Transit made in payouts the year before, a practice Gov. Chris Christie has vowed to end for public employees. Officials in Christie’s administration said they are looking to end such payouts, which he called “boat checks,” and prefer a “use it or lose it” policy for vacation time and that sick time be used during illnesses, similar to what is done in private industry.

Salary records obtained from NJ Transit show that 736 employees cashed in unused vacation time, which cost the agency $2,588,601 last year, an increase of $390,273 over payouts made in 2010.

NJ Transit employees also cashed in $1,532,930 in unused sick time in 2011, an increase of $58,525 from 2010, records showed.

In addition, the top 10 workers with the highest unused vacation payouts took home checks ranging from $20,383 to $28,615, records showed. Records also showed that 20 NJ Transit employees each received the $15,000 limit for unused sick time when they retired last year. A total of 327 employees retired from NJ Transit in 2011, an increase of 114 from 2010.

The increased payouts came even though the agency changed its policy last July after a New Jersey Press Media story documented such payments made in 2010 to current workers, not just retirees. NJ Transit officials said they have taken steps to end them for new hires and to wean current workers from the practice.

Current nonunion employees may collect up to $15,000 in unused sick time when they retire, but the payout for sick leave was eliminated for new hires starting this year. Employees who are out for five or more days will need medical documentation, spokeswoman Penny Bassett-Hackett said.

The policy change eliminates the option for new employees to

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/Jr42z3D1KmY/NJ-Transit-paid-4-1-million-unused-sick-vacation-time-2011

BISMARCK – Airline boardings at North Dakota’s airports included 85,853 passengers in North Dakota in February, the most of any month on record.

This was a statewide increase of 25 percent overall, and was spurred on by more than 1,000 additional passengers in Bismarck, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot and Williston.

Boardings in Fargo were up 2,331 from 2011.

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Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/wIzngVEd1HA/

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House GOP bonding proposal smaller than Dayton’s
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PATRICK CONDON
Associated Press
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<!– ST. PAUL, Minn. House Republicans proposed a $280 million borrowing package for Minnesota construction projects Monday, placing an emphasis on refurbishing state college buildings, roads and bridges but falling far short of the amount Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton proposed spending. –><!– –>

ST. PAUL, Minn. — House Republicans proposed a $280 million borrowing package for Minnesota construction projects Monday, placing an emphasis on refurbishing state college buildings, roads and bridges but falling far short of the amount Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton proposed spending.

Along with the $280 million list of projects, the House GOP proposed a separate bill to borrow $220 million for restoration of the crumbling Capitol building. But even those two proposals combined add up to considerably less than Dayton’s $775 million

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/xW4zM5v4U5A/971332843.shtml

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Supporters of the bill argued that allowing children to attend schools nearby would save on transportation costs, improve the district’s dropout rate and academic achievement and help parents remain active in school activities.

The long travel distances prevent parents from serving on parent-teacher associations and waste time and resources that are better spent in the classroom, Seum said, estimating that the fleet of 938 buses currently in use could be cut in half — a point the district has denied.

Seum said resegregation is not a goal of the bill.

But critics charge that the state would usurp authority of local schools if the bill passes, and that resegregation would ultimately result, whether intended or not.

During more than an hour of debate Tuesday, they questioned why lawmakers from regions out in the state are trying to dictate policy to Jefferson County.

Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, said proponents of the change have provided no proof that busing students drives down achievement. Rather, he said, Tuesday’s vote was based on supposition and anecdotal evidence, and he called the bill a mistake.

“I think what we have here is a knee-jerk reaction — a reaction that is born in frustration that I think all of us feel at some level,” he said. “No one embraces or likes to admit that we have challenges in our schools that we have not yet overcome.”

Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D- Louisville, said SB 9 amounted to a tax increase on grounds that Jefferson County will need six new facilities costing $200 million if students are allowed to attend neighborhood schools.

Neal sought to draw attention to the issue of local control by proposing an amendment that applies the bill statewide. But Republicans defused the point by supporting the change — on grounds that it would not change current law — and the amendment passed on a unanimous vote.

Controversy over Jefferson County’s desegregation efforts —

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/U8Nm095Pk90/Kentucky-Senate-passes-anti-busing-bill-aimed-Jefferson-County

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FRANKFORT, KY. — A bill to close a gap in the state seat-belt law that may have contributed to many of the 11 deaths in an Interstate 65 crash two years ago is headed to Gov. Steve Beshear’s desk after clearing the House on Tuesday.

“Governor Beshear looks forward to signing this bill, which will provide more protection for Kentuckians on the road,” spokeswoman Kerri Richardson said.

Senate Bill 89, sponsored by Rep. Ernie Harris, R-Crestwood, passed 61-33 on a vote that largely followed party lines without any debate.

It will extend seat-belt requirements to motor vehicles that carry up to 15 passengers. Kentucky law now requires seat-belt use only in vehicles that transport up to 10 people.

Vehicles with at least 16 passengers are classified as buses and fall under federal law.

Harris has said the gap in the law came to light in 2010 after a commercial truck and a 15-passenger van collided on I-65 in Hart County.

The crash claimed the lives of the truck driver and 10 of the 12 people in the van, who were headed to a wedding and most of whom were not wearing seat belts.

It was described at the time as the worst highway accident in Kentucky in a generation.

A review by the National Transportation Safety Board cited cellphone use by the truck driver as the cause.

The board also issued 15 safety recommendations, including improvements to seat-belt laws in Kentucky and other states that do not require restraints in large vans.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/rQRkkZGfiYs/Bill-van-seat-belts-sent-Governor-Steve-Beshear

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The state’s decision to yank specialty license plates from a gay youth support group, as well as two other organizations, has done nothing to end the controversy over the plates.

Among the fall-out: The communications director for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles no longer works there. While others said Graig Lubsen was terminated because of a comment he gave to The Indianapolis Star, the BMV said Tuesday that Lubsen “resigned” last Thursday.

Lubsen declined to comment.

He came under fire in the final week of the legislative session as lawmakers attempted different methods to revoke the specialty license plate awarded this year to the Indiana Youth Group. When legislation that would have taken the plate away from the youth group and dozens of other groups failed, Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, told reporters that another “solution” had been found: voiding the youth group’s contract.

Long was asked by reporters on March 8 — the day before the legislature adjourned — if there was pressure on the BMV to cancel the contract. Long responded that senators believed the Indiana Youth Group had violated a clause in their contract that prohibits auctioning or remarketing the plates.

Asked for comment, Lubsen said someone from the Senate had contacted the BMV about the youth group’s contract that morning but that no decision had been made on whether to void it. Lubsen said the contract barred groups from auctioning or selling the plates. But he said the BMV has allowed groups to give out low-numbered plates as thank-you gifts to donors.

On March 9, 20 Republican senators signed and sent a letter to the BMV singling out the Indiana Youth Group and urging that their contract be terminated. A week later, the BMV rescinded the group’s plate, as well as plates for the 4H Foundation and the Greenways Foundation.

And on Thursday, Lubsen was no longer employed by the BMV.

Mary Byrne, executive director

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/ukWQb79ZYd8/Controversy-brews-over-Indiana-s-decision-yank-group-s-specialty-license-plates