Other News effecting transit and about transit from around the U.S.A.

WASHINGTON - Congress handed a major victory to low-income workers May 24  by approving the first increase in the federal minimum wage rate in a decade. Skip to next paragraphBy a vote of 348 to 73, the House approved the measure as part of a deal on Iraq spending. Less than two hours later, the wage increase was approved in the Senate, where it was combined with a bill providing more money for the Iraq war. That vote was 80 to 14.  The measure would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 in three stages over two years. The bill includes $4.84 billion in tax breaks for small businesses. They have made a case, supported by Republicans and the White House, that the wage increase would be a burden for them.  President Bush said he would sign the measure as part of the bigger spending package that had been negotiated between Democratic lawmakers and the administration. After the bill is signed, the wage increase will become the first item in the "Six for '06" agenda of the new Congressional Democratic leadership to become law.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said the increase was overdue. "After 10 years of indifference," Ms. Pelosi said, "we are raising wages for the hardest-working Americans."  The House and Senate approved the increase months ago in different packages, but it stalled over disagreements about the tax breaks. Republicans had sought larger tax breaks for businesses   The minimum wage was an important sweetener for Democrats in dealing with the larger package, which includes money for the military in Iraq and Afghanistan and which had been delayed by a partisan battle over imposing a timetable to reduce troop levels in Iraq.

Although more than half the states have higher minimum wages than the existing federal rate, the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research group, estimates that 4 percent of the work force, or 5.6 million workers, earns less than $7.25 an hour.   President Bill Clinton signed the last increase in 1997. Seven states now have minimum wages higher than $7.25 an hour.  A number of business interests lobbied strongly against the increase. One group, the National Restaurant Association, said the last increase led to a reduction of 146,000 jobs in the industry and prompted owners to postpone plans to hire an additional 106,000 workers.  The House debate over the wage was limited, as most lawmakers spent their floor time arguing over Iraq spending

Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, estimated that in the first year that the full increase would take effect, it would provide a family of three with money to buy an additional 15 months of groceries.   In addition to the tax breaks, the Iraq spending bill had benefits for businesses. Major airline carriers, for example, successfully lobbied for a provision to relieve them of some pension liabilities.  The bill includes $6.3 billion more for areas damaged by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, $600 million for health insurance for children in low-income families and $3 billion for aid in farm disasters.   The White House had opposed many of the domestic spending provisions, which totaled $22 billion. Republicans managed to remove some of them shortly before the bill reached the floor, including $660 million to stockpile medicine for a flu pandemic and $400 million for energy assistance for low-income families.

Ed Redfern our Washington D.C.  associate advises:

Union To Run TV Ads To Help House Democratic Freshmen
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees plans to launch a  television ad campaign over the weekend that applauds Democratic freshmen in nine House districts for supporting a minimum wage increase and other union-friendly votes. "We are going to be up in a number of districts with a substantial ad campaign," AFSCME Legislative Director Chuck Loveless told CongressDaily. He said the ads compliment Democrats for supporting a minimum wage increase, backing about $1.9 billion in additional veterans' healthcare funding and voting in favor of key provisions in the lobbying and disclosure bill. The minimum wage and veterans funding provisions were part of the Iraq war funding bill the House approved last week. The House also passed lobbying legislation last week before breaking for the Memorial Day recess.
He said many ads will begin running this weekend and all will be on the air by Monday. Loveless said spots will run in districts where Democrats have faced negative advertising by opponents. "We want to set the record straight and let voters know they have done the right thing," he said. "In each of these states, they have been pummeled by ads from right-wing business-backed interests." He declined to say how much the union is spending or to detail who the ads would benefit. Loveless did narrow the list considerably by confirming they would focus exclusively on freshmen Democrats and by disclosing in which states they would run. AFSCME plans to run them in Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Reps.Nancy Boyda of Kansas, Heath Shuler of North Carolina and Steve Kagen of Wisconsin are the only Democratic freshmen elected from their states. Reps. Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth, both D-Ind., Tim Mahoney, D-Fla., and Tim Walz, D-Minn., are among their state's most vulnerable members up for re-election next year. Pennsylvania and New York voters elected several Democrats who are facing competitive contests in 2008. 

Steep Transit Fare Hikes Approved in L.A.    County transit officials approved the first across-the-board fare increase in more than a decade, despite emotional testimony from hundreds of bus riders who said they could not afford the steep price hikes. The decision marks a stinging defeat for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had tried to broker a compromise that would have raised most fares only 5 percent a year, according to the Los Angles Times

The Chicago Transit Authority would eliminate 63 bus routes and two rail lines and raise fares to as much as $3.25 a ride on trains if no new state funding is provided, CTA President Ron Huberman says, according to the Chicago Tribune

With the Denver region's FasTracks system nearly $1.5 billion over its original $4.7 billion budget, Regional Transportation District officials are considering putting some new light-rail and bus lines out to private bidders, as reported in the Rocky Mountain News

Commuter Bus System Launches Wi-Fi   Bus commuters can now log onto the Internet on 78 trans-bay buses in the Bay Area's first major free offering of wireless Web access on transit. The service is unique among large bus systems in the nation, said an AC Transit spokesman. The system, which is run by AT&T Wi-Fi, was set up with a $340,000 grant from the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency. From the San Jose Mercury News

New Bill Encourages Production of Biofuel
In an effort to further reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and create a more environmentally-friendly fuel, Sen. Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Ben Nelson recently introduced legislation that encourages farmers to grow energy crops to make cellulosic ethanol. Like Sen. Nelson's initiative to promote the development of bio-gas, this legislation diversifies the sources our country can use for energy, which helps stabilize our expanding biofuels industry.  Cellulosic ethanol has always faced a chicken-or-the-egg problem: it's difficult to start commercial production without a guaranteed supply of biomass, but it's hard to encourage farmers to grow the biomass unless they know they'll have a market. This legislation will help resolve that problem by encouraging the construction of biofuel facilities while simultaneously pushing the production of biomass.  The legislation, the Biofuels Innovation Program Act of 2007 provides business planning and assistance matching grants of up to $30,000 for entities and communities interested in developing a project area for producers to begin producing dedicated energy and biomass crops, as well as for attracting or creating a cellulosic biofuels facility.   While the grants help get biofuel plants up and running, assistance will be given to area producers with the transition to growing crops for biomass. The bill pushes both areas of development along the same track, providing a boost for the new fuel site and encouraging further development of domestic energy supplies. Celluosic ethanol has shown great potential, but it faces significant hurdles. This bill will help clear the hurdles and encourage widespread development of biofuel plants.   The bill can be found at:  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-36