Audrey Dutton

WASHINGTON — The Senate yesterday voted 61 to 39 to approve a $26 billion measure that would extend but phase out increased federal Medicaid payments to states through June 30 and give $10 billion to local school districts to prevent layoffs.

WASHINGTON — A new study released this week by the Government Accountability Office shows that nearly all states have gotten back at least as much money as they contributed to the federal highway trust fund — a revelation that contradicts some lawmakers’ claims that certain states are subsidizing others’ highway and bridge costs under the current system.

Airports may begin seeking more public-private partnership agreements as financing needs mount and more private investors step forward, market participants said at a panel here last week.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is ­opposed to a gasoline tax increase or mileage fee to generate revenue for the next multi-year transportation bill, but would support a number of public and private options ­including bond-related financing, Transportation Secretary Ray ­LaHood said Friday.

WASHINGTON — Congress only has a very small window of time early next year to approve a multi-year transportation bill or it will risk losing the opportunity to do so for another two years, congressional aides said at a meeting here yesterday.

The Senate may vote on a multi-year Federal Aviation Administration bill this week that could include an increase in the cap on passenger facilities charges, a key lawmaker and others said Tuesday at a meeting here sponsored by the American Association of Airport Executives.

WASHINGTON — About $23 billion of transit bonds that are backed by sales tax have held onto strong credit ratings despite taking a hit from the economic recession and retaining their negative credit outlook, Moody’s Investors Service said Friday in a special report.

WASHINGTON — Congress is unlikely to authorize the creation of a national infrastructure bank before next summer, despite its potential to spur more private investment in transportation, water, and energy projects, transportation stakeholders from the public and private sectors said yesterday.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation Thursday announced $300 million in competitive grants for cities and local agencies to pay for 53 transit proposals including bus, streetcar and trolley projects.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration and Department of Transportation today announced $300 million in competitive grants to cities and local agencies to pay for 53 transit proposals including bus, streetcar and trolley projects. The vast majority of grants went to so-called livability projects, which the Obama administration has said it wants to support.

More than $150 million of federal broadband grants were awarded Friday to governmental, publicly owned or bond-issuing nonprofit organizations.

WASHINGTON — Airports would receive steady funding until August, and the federal government would reclaim $17.4 million of unused transit funding this fiscal year, if two separate bills approved this week by the Senate and a House committee become law.

The House yesterday unanimously approved legislation that would extend airport funding for one month and give airports the ability to collect passenger facilities charges, which they often use to repay bonds.

WASHINGTON — Military housing bond issuers should keep an eye on Build America Bonds as likely competition as they attempt to reclaim a spot in the bond market — and the military may have a need for $25 billion of new housing debt in the future, panelists said yesterday at The Bond Buyer's Fifth Annual Financing Military Housing Privatization Conference.

WASHINGTON — State plans for high-speed rail lines are in danger due to a lack of stable funding and underdeveloped federal leadership and guidance, according to a new report by the Government Accountability ­Office.

WASHINGTON — The executives of United and Continental airlines yesterday assured members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee that airline service would not be cut if their companies merge.

Democratic governors and senators yesterday pushed for the Senate to add an amendment to a tax-extenders bill that would provide federal funds to states to help them through their budget crises, with members expected to begin voting on the bill today.

Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., has joined a growing number of senators pushing for climate-change and energy reform by introducing legislation designed to help utilities taper off their use of coal-fired power plants and spur the development of nuclear power.

Transportation stakeholders are concerned that the Obama administration has not released a set of reauthorization principles by the time Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said it would.

WASHINGTON — A group of Senate Democrats sent a letter yesterday to Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., urging them to add billions of dollars for transportation-related investments to the draft climate and energy bill the two recently unveiled.