Two transportation projects, on opposite sides of the country, will be removed from the COVID relief bill passed by the House this past weekend before it is taken up by the Senate based on decisions by the Senate Parliamentarian, CNN reports.
Part of the $30 billion designated for transportation infrastructure in the $1.9 trillion American Recovery Act bill, $1.4 billion allotted for a California rail project and $1.5 million for the Seaway International Bridge in upstate New York were pulled, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced.
While conservative media characterized the California rail project as a bit of pork for Pelosi, calling it “Pelosi’s subway,” the rail project is located 50 miles south of Pelosi’s district and would have extended the existing Bay Area Rapid Transit line from San Jose to Santa Clara. The Parliamentarian said the rail funding should be excluded because it was a new project and not the continuation of a current project.
The funding for the Seaway International Bridge, which is located in Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s district, was requested by the Trump Administration in spring 2020, but that the request never made it to the floor of Congress. Stefanik voted against the ARA bill and stated the bridge funding should not be in the bill.