Durbin Backs Senate Transportation Bill

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin says Republicans in the U.S. House should start over rather than push forward with a troubled bill on long-term funding for transportation.

He said yesterday that the bill stands little chance of passing with so much opposition. Urban Democrats and Republicans alike worry the bill would put city transit agencies in jeopardy.

Instead, Durbin is promoting an alternative Senate bill that he says has bipartisan support and does not touch the steady, reliable funding transit agencies get from the federal gasoline tax. The House version would stop funneling that money to transit networks, drawing numerous objections.

But some in Congress also object to the Senate legislation because it would only cover two years. The House bill is a five-year blueprint for transportation funding.