California and the West : Democratic Senators Block Cut of State’s Public Transit Dollars

WASHINGTON —  California and New York senators Thursday blocked a legislative effort to cut public transit funding to their states and redistribute the money to the other 48 states.

Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California, their two Democratic colleagues from New York and all of the Senate’s 41 other Democrats joined in a procedural vote that effectively thwarted a Republican effort to prevent any state from receiving more than 12.5% of federal transit dollars. Four Republicans broke ranks to side with the Democrats.

After the vote, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), the cap’s chief advocate, said he would drop the provision from a $49.5-billion transportation funding bill for the new fiscal year. “I think it’s dead, at least for now,” he said.

The proposed cap would have cut California’s share of transit funds in the new fiscal year by $117 million, from $794 million to $677 million. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority warned that the cut would have cost it $48 million needed to meet a court order to reduce overcrowding on its buses. The cap also would have made less money available to municipal bus operators throughout California for purchase of buses.

The federal transportation funds, used by public transit agencies to buy buses and build rail lines, are allocated based on a formula that includes population and transit ridership. Without the cap, California stands to receive 14.7% of the dollars, New York 15.5%.

While the Senate did not specifically vote on the proposed cap, its supporters lost a key vote when senators deadlocked, 49 to 49, on a motion to limit debate that required 60 votes for approval.

“It was an important vote for us,” Feinstein said. “I think this ought to put an end to it.”

Boxer called the vote a “clear rejection” of the cap.

The fight over transit money was the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle by California lawmakers to preserve or boost the state’s share of federal funding in some key areas.

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) has been pushing to repeal a provision of federal law that limits California to no more than 10% of clean air funds, even though the state has 12.3% of the nation’s population. California House members also are fighting an effort to limit the state to no more than 11% of the funds provided to schools serving children from households below the poverty level; California has nearly 15% of the nation’s poor children.

While the cap on transit funding would have reduced money to California and New York, it would provide every other state with an additional $5.5 million. But the California senators and their New York colleagues, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Charles E. Schumer, got fellow Democrats to put party loyalty over the self-interest of other states by portraying the issue as a Republican attack on Democratic senators.

“Because it was four Democrats [representing California and New York], I think that helped rally Democratic troops,” Schumer said. “I think people thought this was very unfair, plain and simple.”

The California and New York senators contended that it was unfair to limit the two states, with 50% of the nation’s public transit use, to 25% of the dollars.

The Clinton administration had threatened a veto over the issue. In addition, the House transportation appropriations bill did not include similar limits on how transit funds are distributed to states.

A Senate vote on the full transportation appropriations bill is expected within a few weeks. But before Thursday’s procedural vote, the California and New York senators threatened to filibuster and introduce hundreds of amendments to create a gridlock in the Senate over the cap issue.